In which Sean rides his first roller coaster and Nick volunteers to be the designated sober person.
The men crossed the Strip to New York-New York and found the ticket window for the roller coaster. Monroe was bouncing on the balls of his feet with a goofy smile on his face watching the ride run above him.
"I'm going to sit this one out if you don't mind," Bud stuttered, looking a little green, "I don't do roller coasters." Monroe turned to Sean, who was also looking a little pale.
"You okay, Sean?"
"I, uh... I've..." he mumbled something, forgetting Nick's super-hearing.
"You've never been on a roller coaster? How have you survived life this far?" Nick said, grabbing his arm, "Come on, you're gonna love it!"
"But... It goes upside down..."
"That's even better!" Hank assured him. Sean looked pathetically at Bud, who waved as Monroe, Hank, and Nick steered him toward the ride.
"So seriously, how have you never been on a roller coaster?" Monroe asked as they waited in line. Sean shrugged.
"My mother has no stomach for them..." When they got to the front of the line, Hank and Monroe were directed to the front of the car while Nick and Sean were seated toward the back. Sean started to hyperventilate a bit as the restraint was lowered over his shoulders. Nick wasn't sure what made him do it, but he reached out and squeezed Sean's hand in his own as the coaster began to move forward.
"It'll all be over in a couple minutes," the Grimm reassured the Prince, willing away the feeling of warmth from the Royal's skin. He started to pull his hand away, but instead Sean's hand closed around his in a crushing vice-grip as they went down the first drop. Nick screamed in exhilaration; Sean looked too terrified to make a sound. Eventually the ride was over and they pulled back in where they had started. Sean's hand was still latched onto Nick's, his face white.
"Did... Did I just die?" he asked Nick shakily as the restraints lifted.
"No." Nick leapt lightly from the train, adrenaline coursing through his veins, and extended his hand to Sean to help him down. Sean almost collapsed onto him. Nick hugged him a little as they went to find Monroe and Hank, who had apparently turned into college students, excitedly slapping each other's arms and shoulders like football players.
"That was AWESOME!"
"Fuck right that was awesome!"
"Will you two dude-bros calm the hell down? I'm trying to keep my breakfast from making a reappearance." Sean snarled. Monroe's expression changed to one of confusion, then to one of understanding, and Nick realized he was still holding Sean's hand as Sean was leaning heavily into him. He turned to Sean.
"Do you think you're okay now?" The Royal took two deep breaths, held his arms out, and nodded. Nick immediately felt alone as Sean stood on his own.
"The world has stopped spinning. How do people enjoy that?"
"Well, that is a bit much for your first one." Hank explained, "Normally you start on the kiddie coasters and build up to something like this... Although my first roller coaster went upside down. I was six."
"What was it? Do you remember?" Monroe asked, leading Hank away with a meaningful look at Nick.
"The Sea Serpent on the boardwalk in Wildwood, New Jersey. My mom loved roller coasters and as soon as I was tall enough to ride it, she took me on it. Said I nearly broke her fingers, but I've loved them ever since..."
"That's awesome! Oh, there's Bud!" The little Eisbiber scurried over to meet his friends.
"How was it?" he asked Sean, and the look on his face was all the answer needed. "Well, you know better for next time... While you were doing that, I was looking at food options... Sean, where's the Cirque show?"
"It's actually here. Zumanity. We have tickets for the 7 pm show. "
"Oh, good! There are a lot of options here, including an Irish pub... It looks really interesting... And they have a step-dancer..." Nick thought it was kind of adorable how Bud was trying not to ask to go to the pub; apparently Monroe thought so, too.
"Okay, I'm in. Any objections? ...Seeing none, lead on, Bud!" Bud scampered ahead excitedly, leading them to Nine Fine Irishmen. They stood around the menu, and Monroe frowned slightly.
"There isn't much choice in terms of vegetarian stuff, is there?"
"You eat fish, don't you?" Renard asked, his color finally back to normal. Monroe shrugged.
"Yeah... Fish and chips is always a good choice... I don't know, I guess Portland spoils me." They went in and were seated at a table by a large window. Their server was a sweet girl named Aubrey. Hank ordered Monroe a bottle of whiskey, continuing his crusade to get the Blutbad drunk. Monroe was playing with his phone again, and Nick saw a text to Rosalee.
"Monroe, if I see that phone again, I'm gonna take it from you. Let Rosalee enjoy her time at Disneyland." Monroe apologized and put his phone in his pocket. A band was setting up on a small stage, including a woman with red hair tuning a mandolin.
"Play 'Fields of Athenry'!" Monroe called. The woman smiled and walked over to the table carrying her mandolin.
"Have a taste for the sad songs, do we?" she asked with a thick brogue and a smile.
"Aren't the best Irish ballads sad?" came the rebuttal.
"Touché! And what brings the lads out today?"
"This guy's getting married in two weeks!" Hank answered squeezing Monroe's shoulders.
"Oh, well, congratulations, Luv! See, normally when we have a stag party they want to hear things like 'All For Me Grog' and 'The Wild Rover', good drinking sing-alongs. I think most people this side o' the Pond don't know 'Athenry' because it's so sad..."
"What's it about?" Bud asked, taking the question out of Nick's mouth.
"A man being sent to Botany Bay for stealing food for his family," Monroe answered.
"Aye, and a right sad piece it is... But since yer a right smart man who has something to celebrate, I'll see what we can do. What's yer name, darlin'?"
"Monroe."
"Well, Monroe, I'm Marcia. Pleasure." She shook his hand as he smiled. "And what's your lovely wee bird's name?" Nick cocked his head, confused. Thankfully, Hank looked just as confused. Fortunately, Monroe knew what she was asking.
"Rosalee." Monroe fished his phone out and showed her a picture. Marcia smiled.
"Ah, a right lovely thing she is!" He nodded, smiling back at her picture. "Been courtin' long?" Monroe nodded.
"Over a year, but I've been in love with her much longer."
"Ye fell hard and fast, did ye? But didn't know if she felt the same?" He nodded again.
"Well, if she's anywhere as smart as she is lovely, I think ye'll both be happy. I can tell she made a wise choice with ye. But I best be getting back up there, or me own husband will be thinking ye stole me!" She winked and went back up on stage.
"How the hell do you do that?" Hank asked.
"Do what?"
"Charm all the ladies like that."
"No idea. Was that charming? I thought it was kind of awkward. I've actually always been really awkward... I think you're making stuff up about me being charming." The band finished tuning their instruments and began playing"Star of the County Down" as Aubrey took their order. The pub started to fill up with people looking for an early dinner as Monroe finished the bottle of whiskey. Hank insisted he get another. As their food arrived, Marcia took the microphone.
"Hello, darlin's! Is everyone having a bloody good time?" The pub patrons cheered back, and Monroe raised his glass. "We've got a right nice request as we were settin' up from a nice bloke named Monroe. Stand up and say hi, Luv!" The tips of Monroe's ears turned red as he stood and waved. "Monroe found himself a right lucky bird who he's making into an honest woman in two weeks time, eh? Anyway, he requested 'Fields of Athenry', which is a right sweet little song, but very sad. So we're going to play the song, but first a toast to Monroe: May the roof over yer heads be as well-thatched as those inside are well-matched! Sláinte!"
"Sláinte!" As Marcia started singing the song in a hauntingly beautiful soprano, Aubrey came over with a tray full of drinks of all sorts.
"These are all drinks for the gentleman getting married, compliments of the other patrons." Monroe stared at the tray. There were some beers, some mixed drinks, and a small army of different shots.
"Umm, that's awfully nice of them..."
"And he thanks each and every one of them." Hank finished, putting them in a line. Monroe started to look genuinely upset.
"Hank, I have had two screwdrivers, three Bloody Marys, a bottle and a half of whiskey..."
"And you're going to keep drinking until you're drunk."
"But why?"
"Because."
"That isn't a reason!"
"...Because I want you to be able to get really loose. Lose control a bit. You're so uptight sometimes, you need to relax."
"This is a bad idea..."
"Of course it is. Isn't that the point of a bachelor party? Get messed up, do some stupid shit, go home to your girl as if nothing ever happened?" Monroe sighed and looked at the other men with him.
"If I drink all this shit..." he began slowly, "somebody has to be the designated sober person, because since I'm the only one who remembered last night, I need someone making sure I stay out of trouble. There's a reason I'm uptight that we aren't going to get into. So who's it going to be? Bud? Nick? Who's our DD? Or DW..."
"DW?" Sean asked.
"Designated Walker. You know, makes sure we don't get hit by a bus?" In the end, Nick volunteered in order to avoid spilling any more secrets about Juliette.
"I'll do it," he said. "I'm the best man, it's kind of my job anyway." Monroe nodded.
"Don't let me get into fights. Don't let me woge. And DEFINITELY, for the love of everything holy and sacred, don't let me cheat. I still think this is a terrible, terrible idea, but I'm trusting you here, okay?"
"Okay."
An hour later, Monroe finished off the last of his drinks.
"How you feeling, big guy?" Hank asked. Monroe's head lolled to the side and he gave Hank a death glare.
"If I get sick, you're dead. I know where you sleep."
"Ooooookay, starting to see why you don't want to get drunk. You could have just said you're an angry drunk."
"Dunno if I'm an angry drunk. Never got drunk. Don't like being forced to drink. Also, not sure if that combination of drinks was a good idea." Sean checked his watch.
"We should start making our way to the theater. Are you okay to stand, Monroe?" Monroe stood and nodded. Hank looked incredulous.
"How the hell are you still standing?"
"Sheer force of will. Yoga and meditation. So what's this Zumanity show?"
"You'll see," Sean said with a slight smile.