In which Monroe finally gets drunk...

They found the theater and were ushered inside. They were led to a large fluffy black and silver couch by the stage with a table. Monroe sat in the middle, Nick to his right, Hank to his left. Bud sat next to Hank, Sean next to Nick. A waitress came by to get their drink order, and Hank ordered a round of shots.

"Son of a bitch," Monroe mumbled, "when can I switch to beer?"

"How about this? After this show, we're going to see a burlesque show. When we get there, you can switch to beer. Deal?" Monroe made a small whining noise in the back of his throat, but didn't protest. His phone buzzed and he pulled it out.

"NOPE!" Nick said loudly, taking the phone from Monroe's hand before he even had the opportunity to look at whatever he had received. "MINE! I told you I would take it, and I am. And I am turning it OFF." Monroe tried to take his phone back, causing Nick to lean into Sean to keep it away. Nick actually enjoyed being back in Sean's personal space, and the Royal seems to not mind it very much either. Monroe was still swatting at his phone.

"Come onnnnnnnnnnnn..." the Blutbad whined. "You guys are so mean!" Nick managed to push Monroe off him, putting the phone in his back pocket opposite his own. He had turned his off to ignore the constant texts from Juliette; he knew there would be hell to pay when he got home, but he didn't really care right now. The waitress came back with their shots, and Monroe looked at Nick. "Okay, okay, now, Nick, I really, really need you to promise me that you won't get drunk."

"I promised you already!"

"Promise me again, damn it! Every other drink needs to be non-alcoholic, okay? Lots of water. Eat when you can..."

"What are you, my mother?"

"No, I don't think your mom would give you that kind of advice. Your mom would tell you to chop off my head, Bud's head, and Sean's head, take Hank and run like hell. Your mom doesn't like us, dude. Man, I thought she was gonna kill Rosalee, and then I'd have to fight her to the death... but that... that's when I fell in love with Rosalee. She hugged your mom! She hugged her, and your mom hugged her back. And I thought I was gonna DIE... but I fell in love with Rosalee. Ass over fuckin' teakettle. I mean, I already really liked her because she's pretty and smart and stuff, but man, right that second, I fell in LOVE... like a fuckin'... brick."

"So you're a chatty drunk?" Hank asked. Monroe shrugged.

"Told ya, I don't know. But now you mention it, I am talking a hell of a lot, aren't I? Make sure I shut up when the show starts. I don't wanna get thrown out..." Music started and a drag queen dressed in black walked out, introducing herself as Edie, the Mistress of Sensuality.

"Oh. It's that kind of show," Nick muttered to Sean, who nodded ever so slightly. There was a steady stream of alcohol for the table, and the show was very racy. At some point, Nick forgot to temper his drinking. He couldn't believe how much some of these acts were turning him on, especially two girls doing contortions, swimming in a shallow bowl that looked like a wine glass. And another girl with red hair doing a striptease on top of and around a television, with the implication that her lover was ignoring her for sports... Juliette did something very similar to that when they first moved in together. Nick suddenly became aware of a hand on his knee under the table. He looked at Monroe, but Monroe was biting on his knuckles as a woman in a schoolgirl outfit was doing an aerial hula-hoop routine. Monroe must have noticed Nick looking at him because he whispered loudly:

"She looks like Rosaleeeeeeeeee! She's sooooooo hot!" Nick then turned to Sean, and, sure enough, the hand moving up his leg was attached to his boss, who was staring forward as if in a trance. And maybe it was the alcohol, but Nick found he didn't mind; the Captain's hand was warm and gentle on his pant leg. The roaming hand got even more possessive during a segment involving two very athletic men wrestling. Nick found it incredibly sexy. He started to zone out a little as the images and the music and the feeling of Sean's hand on his leg lulled him into a hypnotic state. This was sexy. And it reminded him of what he had always known, but kept deeply hidden: Detective Nick Burkhardt, the Grimm of Portland, was bisexual. Monroe knew; when they were living together, Nick had gotten blackout drunk one night and admitted he had a crush on the Blutbad. The next morning, when he was sober, Monroe sat him down and told him, point-blank, he was flattered, but he didn't swing that way, he was in love with Rosalee, and Nick was more like his brother anyway. Nick got really upset, and started crying, ashamed.

"No, don't feel bad!" Monroe assured him, patting his shoulder. "That's who you are. Again, I'm flattered, but that's just not how I work, okay? Ziegevolk excluded, apparently, but that's different."

"Do you need me to find somewhere else to live? Is this going to make stuff weird?" Monroe laughed.

"Nah, my college roommate for two years was gay. I wouldn't go proposing a threesome to Rosalee, though... although, come to think of it, she might be into it..."

"Not a word of this to anyone, ever," Nick growled, wiping his eyes, and Monroe held up his hands.

"Okay, okay. But if you find a guy, he had better treat you right. You're like my little brother, okay? I will kick their ass..."

"I said, not a word. Ever. Again."

"Okay, okay, not a word."

Back in the present, the lights were on, and Sean's hand was no longer on his leg. Sean offered him a hand to stand with a smile. Nick smiled back, perhaps a little too widely. He felt a little fuzzy. Monroe was still sitting, staring intently ahead of him.

"You ready to go?" Hank asked with a slight hiccup.

"I'm waiting for Rosalee to come back."

"Rosalee wasn't here..."

"Uh huh... she did a hula hoop dance. I didn't know she could do that. I can't believe she wore that outfit in front of everybody, though, I thought that was in our private stash... but she does like to put on a show... " The guys all looked at each other.

"I think... I think he might be drunk now..." Hank whispered loudly. Bud put his hand on Monroe's shoulder.

"Monroe, I think she's getting changed. We should wait for her outside." Monroe nodded and stood. He swayed a bit, but eventually found his balance.
"You sure she wants us to wait for her outside?" he asked before shuffling forward like a penguin.

"We're sure." Monroe threw his arm around Hank's shoulder.

"I am sooo glad I'm marrying Rosalee! I love her sooo much! She's sooooo pretty and smart and funny and she's awesome! She fuckin' saved my life like six times, too! She's soooo badass... and sooooo sexy." They made their way out to the street, Monroe still his arm still wrapped around Hank. Sean waved toward their next destination, but Monroe turned back to New York-New York, nearly strangling Hank in the process. His smile suddenly became a look of sheer panic.

"Oh my God, where is she? Did she leave without us? Did she get kidnapped? If somebody kidnapped her, I'll kill them..." He started walking back to the casino, dragging Hank with him. Nick, Sean, and Bud shared a look, and Nick got an idea.

"Wait, Monroe!" Nick yelled, jogging unsteadily to catch up. He pulled Monroe's phone out of his pocket. "Rosalee just sent me a text... she's going to meet us at... ummm..." he turned to Sean.

"The Flamingo," Sean supplied. Monroe nodded, turned around purposefully, made it about three steps, then stopped.

"Where's that?"

"This way." Sean directed the group back toward the Bellagio, explaining the Flamingo was the next block over across the street. They stopped to watch the fountains.

"That is soooooooooo pretty... I like fountains. Fountains are sooooo cool... my college had a fountain. They turned it off in the winter... and one year, the day they were gonna turn it back on, we filled it with dish soap. It was all fluffy and bubbly... I wish I'd played in it, but I had a test that day... I had sex in that fountain on a dare... during spring finals... Actually, it wasn't even my dare, the girl I was dating was rushing for Tri-Sig and she had to have sex in public and not get caught. I got brought before the sisters to verify she'd done it. It was really weird. Not the weirdest place I've ever had sex, but up there... the second coldest, though..." Hank started laughing.

"I knew you were a wild one! So where the weirdest place you and Rosalee did it?" Monroe turned really quickly and fell into a bush. He shook his head as he tried to pull himself up.

"Noooooooo, you guys are gonna get mad at me. And Rosalee's gonna get mad at me for telling because it was her idea. You can ask her... where is she, anyway?"

"We're almost there." Sean said reassuringly, pulling Monroe up. Monroe swayed a bit and flung his arms around Nick's waist, nearly knocking the already wobbly Grimm over.

"I love you guys sooooooooooooooooo much!" Monroe slurred. And that was the last thing Nick Burkhardt would remember.