Bar Tales - Sorrow

Reno sat in the bar. He sat in the bar all alone and drowning his sorrows in a pint. He sat, head drooping, almost touching the sticky puddle of spilt beer, no doubt spilled by no other than himself; he had been sat there all day after all.

The bar was full. The bar was full of people who weren't Vincent, and Reno slumped even further down into his chair, clutching his drink like a lifeline.

Beer glorious beer, the key to forgetting and a tasty beverage. Throwing the last drops down his throat, Reno slammed the pint glass down onto the table and shakily stood up, with the intention of getting another pint.

Failing to take into account the extent of his drunkenness, Reno stumbled and knocked into a tall woman with an armful of drinks, which were immediately spilled all over her, Reno and any other people who happened to be nearby.

Mumbling some apologies, Reno grabbed the bottom of his shirt and proceeded to suck the spilt beer out of it. A look of disgust on her face, the woman stepped around Reno, who was by now almost in tears, and went back to the bar.

It just wasn't fair. The only person Reno had ever loved had abandoned him, and now here he was, stuck in a bar, with only alcohol as a friend. Although that wasn't necessarily a bad thing...

Speaking of which, beer! Reno stumbled over to the bar, and waved at the tender, who glared at him as he slumped down, face first onto the sticky surface.

"Beer pleashe..." He lifted his hand feebly to the pint that had been slammed down in front of him.

"I hope this is going to be paid for, Reno." The tender glowered at the red-haired man slumped on his bar-top before stalking away with a sigh. He knew that the tab would be paid by ShinRa, or by the dark haired one who often rescued Reno from the bar.

Reno lifted his head long enough to notice that his beer had been delivered, at which point he instantly perked up, grabbed the pint and started to drink noisily. The man on the stool next to him grimaced at the various slurping noises Reno was making before tapping him on the shoulder, a look of concern on his face.

"Whaddyouwant?" Reno demanded shakily. "Leave me alone..." He buried his head into his arms, unwilling to face whoever was bothering him. But the man was persistent, tip-tapping Reno's shoulder again; and again; and again, until the red-haired one sat bolt upright, a look of fury on his tear-stained face.

"Look, I don't want to talk to you..." He trailed off as he caught sight of the identity of the tapping man. "Rufus, I am so not in the mood to talk to you... I guess you've come to mock in some way, eh?" Reno glared at the bar, which was easier on the eyes than Rufus' probably-smirking face.

His chest heaved with the effort of hiding his tears and he dashed his hand across his eyes ashamedly. He didn't want anyone to see him like this, especially not his extremely good looking boss, who Reno was certain hated him.

When a slender hand reached down to cup Reno's chin, no one could have been more surprised than the quaking red-head, and he looked up in surprise into the cool blue eyes of Rufus Shinra.

An enigmatic smile hovered on his perfectly formed lips as Rufus regarded the drunken mess his employee had made of himself.

"You're a complete mess, Reno. It's disgusting; you should be damn ashamed. What did you even see in him anyway? For one thing, he's far to pale. You need a real man, that's what you need." Rufus raised a shaped eyebrow suggestively and tilted his head slightly. Grabbing Reno's hand, he hauled him upright from the barstool and stalked out of the place to the waiting cream limousine.