Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

  The door of the bar opened, a familiar face walking into the rather empty place.

  Fitz sat down on one of the many barstools. Rhoda quickly noticed that the mouse looked happier than usual. He always looked happy to go into the har and get wasted on alcohol, but this time he looked almost joyful.

  "The usual 12 beers?" Rhoda asked. She had memorized his order, as he always purchases (or sometimes just drinks without buying) this amount of beer bottles. Some may find it a huge amount for just one mouse, but Rhoda is fine with it - she likes watching him doing whatever.

  "Make it 13." Fitz said, as Rhoda went and fetched more than a dozen bottles. He popped one open and chugged it down his throat. Rhoda pretended to not pay attention to the man by rearranging the bottles on the shelves. The mouse stopped his continuous drinking to think.

  "Hey, Rhoda." Rhoda turned around at the mention of her name, placing the bottles she had in her hands back on the shelf. "This bar's really empty. How about you close it earlier tonight?". 

  The question took her slightly aback. It was almost ironic - her biggest customer of all time asking her to close her bar for the night. "And why would i?" she got back to arranging.

  "Well.. to.." he was trying to think of a way to say it without flat out telling her what he meant. The mouse chugged down another bottle of beer. "Forget it. Just close the bar earlier... at 6. Yeah. Close the bar at 6 tonight."

  "At 6?" She repeated what he said, guaranting a nod from the mouse. "Yeah. And ill pick you up at 7." He said, chugging his third beer bottle. 

  That confused her even more. "Wait, wait. Pick me up for what?" She stopped working on rearranging bottles of alcohol to look directly at Fitz. "Theres a pretty good pizza restaurant in the centre." He quickly started chugging down the fourth bottle. "I was thinking of taking you there."

  "Like.. like a date or something?" Blush formed on her cheeks as she said that. The fifth bottle became empty as soon as he picked it in his hand. As soon as he finished it he nodded yes to the bartender' question. 

  Her blush deepened. Was she dreaming? Rhoda had developed a crush for Fitz and she's been trying her hardest to not make it obvious, but it was do hard! Something about him made her heart go into a little frenzy. She thought about it for a few seconds - or maybe she was trying to control herself and not scream of excitement. No one knows.

  ".. Sure! Meet you infront of the bar at 7?" She couldnt control the small chuckle that left her lips as she said that.

  Rhoda was so distracted that she didnt even notice him going down to his last bottle. Or the bar getting fuller in a matter of meer minutes. Fitz chugged down the last full bottle of beer infront of him, getting up from his seat.

  "I'll see you here in a few hours." 

Chapter Text

  His back leaned against the bar's door. Cardboard city doesn't exactly have an active night life. Sure, many restaurants are open during the evening but nothing too wild. 

  Fitz stole a rose bouquet from the local flower shop to give to Rhoda (and also to hide this one stain on his suit that won't come off). He didn't have a watch or anything of sort on him, but he knew he was on time. 

  Rhoda was running pretty late. Liquor's store was still open. Would it be rude of him to go in and grab a bottle-

  "Sorry I'm late!" Rhoda panted. She looked like she's been running for a while. 

  Fuck. She looked so pretty. She was wearing a short flowy dress that matched her usual red gloves. He didn't even notice his face getting warm. 

  "I got you something." he held out the bouquet that he just remembered he was holding in his hand. "Oh, damn!" her eyes widened. "I- Thank you! Sorry I just- didn't expect this." she giggled as she thanked him, holding the bouquet in her hands.

  The restaurant wasn't too far from Rhoda's bar, so they just walked the way there. The restaurant was styled like the stereotypical Italian restaurant: a few tables outside the restaurant and a waist height statue of a fat chef that held the menu on top of its head.

  The two of them went inside. The place was almost full, spare for a table near the window. A young-looking waiter approached their table and handed them two copies of the menu. 

  "I've got an offer for a free large pepperoni pizza." What he didn't tell Rhoda hours before their date is that the restaurant was pretty expensive. And that his wallet wasn't exactly full of cash. But he found a coupon on the ground the day before and it gave him the idea to take Rhoda there without having to go broke. A win-win for the both of them.

  The waiter came back to bring them some drinks and take their order. "You think this is his first job?" Rhoda said about the waiter, grabbing a sip of her glass of gin. "How would you know?" he didn't pay attention to the waiter, he just cared about him bringing them their order.

  "He is pretty clumsy. I just know that that's how I was at my old job!" Used to work at a restaurant just like this one.". "Really?" he raised an eyebrow. "Yeah! Back in college. Casual job with a pretty small salary but man, was it stressing me out!" he was staring into her eyes as she kept talking, sipping his beer as she did.

  "I got much more laid back when I opened the bar. Maybe it just comes with age, don't ya think?" she asked him. "Yeah. The more you see of life." he paused his talking to continue drinking. "..you just start caring less and less."

  The waiter ran to their table, pizza in both hands, looking like he was about to trip and fall at any second. He placed it in the middle of their table and pulled out a pizza cutter from his apron.

  The rest of the date was fairly silent - occasionally breaking the silence with small conversation. The pizza wasn't bad, but it wasn't exactly amazing either. Fuck, is the date going wrong? Is she even enjoying this date? He should have put more effort. 

  What's the point of loving a woman if you won't even put effort to make her feel great?

  He paid for their drinks and they both left. The two of them began to walk back slowly to Rhoda's bar. The sun has set long ago, the cold light of the moon washing over them. Rhoda pulled out a cigarette and a lighter from her purse. "You're a smoker?" he asked her. "Yeah. Got a problem with that?"

  "Nah, I don't care. I just didn't expect it. I mean, you run a bar but you barely ever drink." he held out his hand as to request a cigarette without outright saying it. She complied, handing him the pack and her lighter. "I don't smoke that much - I just do it on special occasions." Rhoda took a long drag from her cigarette, letting the smoke escape her lips as she continued: "Used to go through entire packs in one day a few years ago. Mainly to ease the stress of running a bar on your own."

  "Wait. You used to run the bar alone? Lke, no other employees?" he lit a cigarette and handed the pack back to Rhoda. "Still do. It's called 'Rhoda's' for a reason!". "Huh. Then you do a pretty darn good job at it!" he nudged her arm with his elbow as he took a drag, letting the intoxicating chemicals fill his lungs. She let out a small chuckle and muttered a simple 'thanks'.

  They kept walking in silence until they got to door of the bar. "So. See you tomorrow?" the mouse dropped his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it to put it out. Then, in a fraction of a second, her face got close to his and their lips intertwined. 

  The kiss got deeper as he placed his hands on the side of her face, pulling Rhoda closer. Her facial hair prickled his lips and he could taste the tobacco inside her mouth - and she could taste it in his mouth too.

  She broke the kiss slowly and put out her cigarette on the wall of the bar. And then she walked away, strolling away into the night. Letting the starry sky guide her home, it seemed.