I'm half drunk, I can't see straight

[bragnificent]

WHO: REGGIE MANTLE, ARCHIE ANDREWS, and YOU.
WHERE: Archie & Reggie's apartment in Heropa.
WHEN: Weekend of June 16th-18th.
WHAT: Reggie and Archie celebrate their newfound independence and take advantage of Reggie's new ability to generate alcohol in a typical teenage fashion: by throwing a party. The theme this month is SUPERHEROES and the invitation is public, so anyone is free to tag in regardless of existing CR!
WARNINGS: Underage drinking mainly, though potentially other party-typical (or otherwise) sensitive content (e.g. drug use, sexual implications/activity, etc.); please mark threads for content as applicable!


INSIDE ( FRI )

ARRIVAL, FOOD & DRINKS:
↳ The apartment, granted, isn't huge -- one of the standard government two bedrooms -- but that's obviously not of major concern for this party's two charming hosts. There's still room outside should it get too crowded... but also, a good party is always a little crowded.

The dining room table is laid out with paper plates and pizza boxes -- the different kinds labeled with post-its -- a stack of red plastic cups, and a cooler of soda, although as specified in the invites hopefully guests also brought their own drinks along if they don't want to be sipping tap water by the end of the evening. Reggie will tell guests as they arrive (if he's the one to greet them) to come find him whenever they need their drinks "freshened up": find him, talk to him, he'll work his magic to turn whatever your drink of choice more alcoholic. All for free this time, too! So generous of him.

The party will be going from "6 PM - ????" but feel free to arrive earlier, and to stay as long as you want. Odds are the festivities will spill over into the early hours of Saturday morning, which gives everyone plenty of time to mingle and make new friends, enemies, love connections, or whatever else, and there's a couch, the floor, tables?!, or even Archie or Reggie's own beds that can be crashed on in a pinch. True that last option might be awkward, but only maybe. They might not even notice!

OPTIONS / ACTIVITIES:
↳ Since it is a party, the whole of the apartment is effectively at any guest's disposal, even beyond the common areas; it may not be considered the most classy to pop inside the hosts's bedrooms, but also hardly unheard of if anyone's in need of some privacy or just a moment alone to take a quick breather.

In the common areas, of course, people are free to mingle, drink, and dance-- hell, it's encouraged. Go wild, grind on each other, show off yours costumes, enjoy the free food, do shots, sit on the couch and chat... the night is full of options, and that's not even including the potential for party games: various drinking games are bound to be organized and played throughout the night, as well as a tipsily-judged (and dubiously categorized) costume "contest" and, naturally, there's always the classic ice-breaker game Never Have I Ever.

Just try not to get too rowdy or turn the music up too loud, in case the neighbors complain! Or you know what, fuck those guys. Smoke in the bathroom, make out on the balcony. If it gets too crowded for you, clear off a table and dance there instead! Seriously, do whatever you want.

OUTSIDE ( FRI )

↳ Outside things might be a little quieter and less crowded, depending on the time of night-- although that's still a "maybe," because on a warm Florida night there's nothing more fun than partying at a poolside. Hope you brought suits or incorporated them into your costumes! But hell, even if not, no one's really going to judge anyone too hard for jumping in (or getting pushed in) with their clothes on or even in their underwear. Anything goes, after all!

There might not be blasting music except for the dim sounds of what can still be heard from the apartment -- unless someone's come prepared and brought their own, of course -- but there's the ambient sounds of conversation and traffic and other such night noise, and the pool area is nicely lit up. It'll close for the night eventually, but still feel free to sneak back in after hours if you don't mind the darkness. Just, y'know, don't drown.

SATURDAY ( MORNING )

↳ By the time Saturday morning rolls around, a lot of people may or may not have left already -- one never can really tell how long a party will last -- but those who haven't may either still be awake (talking, swimming, making out, watching TV, or whatever else) or passed out asleep wherever they found space to.

Sleep in as long as you need, drag yourselves awake and help each other tend to your potential respective hangovers, dig into your hosts's leftovers and/or fridge, or just take the opportunity to have a quiet conversation or moment alone with someone you didn't have the chance to while the party was in full swing.

Comments

[pale_blue_arrow]

[Brendan shifts his body so their knees touch, casually, looking at Yusuke's face. His hair is great, but it really is his eyes that sucker Brendan in. He's seen enough people with dubious intentions in their eyes that seeing someone genuine is enticing in a way little else could be.

He puts one arm up on the top of the couch, leaning in slightly just because the party is loud.]

I'm more or less a private investigator back home. That count?

[It's not even a lie; if anything, it's underselling the shit he's been involved with.]

[lempereur]

Are you?

[ Yusuke exaggerates a sigh, running his free hand through his hair. ]

Where I come from, detectives are all murdering scum. Are you trying to kill me, Brendan?

[...he's only half serious. ]

[pale_blue_arrow]

Where I come from the cops and police detectives are monsters and private investigators are the only ones who get anyone who deserves it put behind bars 'cause otherwise it'd never get done.

I don't kill people - that's what cops are for. And you're givin' me free drinks, so if they show up I'm diving on a bullet for you, Rembrandt. [He's mostly kidding. Well, depending on just how drunk he gets. He's had worse ideas, really.]

[lempereur]

I think I prefer Doll.

[ Yusuke chuckles, the warm, fuzzy, drunky feeling coming back now that he's settled and comfortable on the couch. Back when he was the only one on his team in this world, he was more loose lipped about his activities back home, but now that there were two more, relying on him to keep their vigilantism under the radar...well, he could listen to other peoples' stories, at least. His own would remain vague, until he's more inebriated than this, at least. ]

And have you put people away? People who deserve it?

[pale_blue_arrow]

You got it, Doll.

[He's good with that. Nicknames and little bits of slang remind him of home, in good ways. Yusuke reminds him of the kind of people who'd stay after school in the art room, talking shop and ignoring the rest of the world. And in a way that's what they're doing now, ignoring the party to just talk to each other, but it's been a while since Brendan's been able to shoot the shit with someone.

He sighs, and nods.] Before I got Ported in, I'd just finished throwing a drug ring selling kids - not an exaggeration, actual kids - heroin under the bus. Too much evidence for the cops not to get everybody's ass in jail. Plus I solved a murder of a local girl, some fourteen year old who got caught up in the crossfire of the gangs, at the same time. Took a few weeks, had to go undercover for part of it, but it was worth it. You tell me if they deserved it on your moral barometer 'cause they sure as hell did on mine.

[lempereur]

[ He's more of the ignored by the rest of the world type, if not receiving funny looks. It was strange, back home he didn't really have friends at all until the demon filled mirror world vigilantism started. He and his fellow Phantom Thieves loved and understood each other well, but it wasn't until being forced into this new world that he'd connected much with normal people. Maybe normal wasn't the word, but...people outside his supernaturally thrown together circle? ]

Of course. Anyone who uses or abuses others like that deserves to be in jail. You did that on your own?

[pale_blue_arrow]

[Brendan had one friend back home. The rest were people he considered more contacts to play upon if he needed something. Even then, though, he spent his time alone, eating behind the school at lunch time, watching old movies at his house after school, talking hours-long aimless walks through San Clemente to try to kill time. He was off the radar of the world and he preferred it that way, or he assumed he did, not having had much experience with anything else until he came here.]

More or less. I had a friend do a little research for me and deliver some messages but that's it. I didn't want him too involved in case anything got violent; can't risk somebody's else life on my idea and my investigation, it wouldn't be fair.

[lempereur]

[ That was a feeling he knew very well, especially here. All this new drama, too many people involved. ]

...that's a lot to burden yourself with. We had a team. Back home. A couple of them are here.

[pale_blue_arrow]

[He arches an eyebrow, tilting his head.]

So you did something similar back home, Doll? [Color him intrigued.]

[lempereur]

[ He promised the team's leader, Akira, that he would stop talking about it. But he was emboldened by his own new leadership role (and binge drinking. Don't forget binge drinking). He could at least be coy about it. ]

Something similar. A lot of people are able to see terrible abuses of power and look away. I am not so complacent.

[pale_blue_arrow]

[Brendan smiles, briefly, a sad, exhausted sort of smile. A I-cannot-binge-drink-my-ghosts-away smile.]

I know what you mean. It'd be easier if I could walk away but I can't. If I did I'd be stuck thinking about what I coulda done, 'specially since nobody with a badge or a title is ever gonna do anything.

[He finished the drink, just to have an excuse to put the drink down. The things he's dealt with keep popping up in the middle of perfectly good conversations, trying to ruin them, drag him down.]

[lempereur]

Sometimes the ones with a badge or title are the ones who need to be taken down.

[ Yusuke would offer to get new ones, or at least refresh Brendan's...but that would require getting up, and he's quite comfortable. ]

[pale_blue_arrow]

That's why I had to go to the vice principal to get a pass to be absent from classes while I was investigating. The principal at my school was on the payroll, not the heroin dealers' one but someone's, he's run interference on too many police investigations not to be. The VP, though, he's not crooked, and he knows three guys on the police force who aren't.

[It was a series of one or two decent people forming a chain. That was the only way Brendan could get shit down, that and planning, lying, and planting evidence. But those aren't things to discuss when it's warm and he's next to someone who gets it, who he doesn't have to pretend to be normal for. Not breaking eye contact, he reaches out and takes Yusuke's free hand with his own, loosely, so he can pull away if he wants.]

[lempereur]

Three, out of the entire force? That sounds about right. Our home worlds may not be too different.

[ Yusuke's eyes wander over to their hands, more curious than anything else, but he holds still and accepts the small display of affection. Normally, he wouldn't, not with anyone he's meeting for the first time, but this feels fine. Nice, even. ]

So. What's next? Corrupt politicians? Military strategists? The Porter?

[pale_blue_arrow]

That's not exactly the greatest common ground to have, but yeah, it seems like it.

[After a moment, when Yusuke doesn't pull away, Brendan's fingers wrap a little tighter around his hand, not hard, just enough to make a connection. It feels good, being next to someone, touching them, without having to worry about what kind of game they might be playing. His gaze lingers on Yusuke's lips for a second before he looks him in the eyes.]

If I can gather resources, then why not? I don't have contacts here or someone to run ops, but wrong is wrong, whatever world we're in.

[lempereur]

[ It can't hurt to squeeze back, he figures. Finding a kindred spirit, in any world, was hard, he might as well hold on.

And...perhaps share too much? ]

I might have...resources. Or at least, skills that can be borrowed.

[pale_blue_arrow]

[He may be leaning in more than he needs to, now. God, Yusuke's got amazing eyes. Serious and dark and deep, like the point in the ocean where no light reaches but things still live in defiance of the high pressure and deep cold.

Brendan can't tell if he wants to kiss him or tell him everything.]

Tempting. But you mentioned a team - they'd have to vett me first, right? And we gotta make sure we've got a target who's actually guilty. Politicians aren't the only ones who scapegoat other people for their sins. I've seen it before.

[This is the weirdest not-date he's ever been on and he's surprisingly into it.]

[lempereur]

[ They are sitting rather...closely, aren't they? Yusuke doesn't mind it at all, it's better this way, to talk about things that aren't meant for most ears. He hasn't told that many people about his work as a member of the Phantom Thieves. Invading people's minds and forcibly removing aspects of their personality, in his targets' case, their desire to wrong others. Those in this world who did know looked at him like he was crazy, at best, criminal at worst.

He had a feeling Brendan might understand...but still, it was too early to tell him. At least about that. There's plenty else to share. ]

I can make it so you can do anything they can do, if you ask nicely.

[pale_blue_arrow]

[Brendan raises an eyebrow for a moment, then tilts his head, intrigued. If this is a come-on, it's one of the better ones he's gotten. Yusuke is too drunk to be playing a total con game, too honest, and even if he is, Brendan's been with people who were trying to pull one over on him. He can deal with the consequences later.

He reaches out with his free hand to tuck a strand of Yusuke's hair behind his ear and studies his face. He's intense, but Brendan likes intense when it's coupled with honesty, which he's at least gleamed a little of so far. Something about him makes Brendan want to tail him the next time he's out and about to keep him safe, keep an eye on him so he'll be alright.

Belatedly he realizes his hand is now cupping Yusuke's face, fingers tangled in his hair, but he can't bring himself to pull away.] I can ask real nicely, sirenito.

[He's not sure if he meant for it to come out in a husky near-whisper like it did, if he meant for the suggestive tone to slip in, but he is, oddly, completely alright with it.]

[lempereur]

[ Yusuke didn't mean it as a come on, he means it quite literally. Ever since he found out that his skill card ability was so much stronger here than back home, he'd been eager to test its limits, at least, in a way that wouldn't out him if he ever wanted to use that power for...less than legal purposes.

But if it sounds sexy, he's in no position to argue.

He really, truly isn't. The fingers running through his hair are so warm it feels like he could melt into them, if he doesn't melt into the space between them first, the distance dripping away slowly but surely until Yusuke can feel the breath in the other's whisper. If he were much for foresight, he would get up right now with a dozen entirely valid excuses, but he...isn't. A mop-haired boy in glasses, teasing something dangerous, angry, and righteous, was familiar enough to him to be comfortable, but there was something different enough about this one that he wanted to figure out.

So he stays right where he is, his tongue darting over his lips teasingly, and matches Brendan's tone, low, soft, sultry. ]

Ask me, then.

[pale_blue_arrow]

[Brendan should hesitate. He knows he should. This is not a good idea, this is... Yusuke is so warm and real and human, and God, it feels like another lifetime ago someone was this willing to let him in on a basic level. He wants more. He's not just touch-starved he is people-starved and empty in a way booze cannot paper over.

He leans in and catches Yusuke's lips in his own. Unlike a lot of his past make outs, this is soft, and gentle, not hesitant but not demanding because he's sick of demanding people and figures Yusuke probably is too. He lingers for a moment, just savoring the contact, before tangling his fingers deeper into that perfect hair and running his tongue along Yusuke's bottom lip, squeezing their still intwined hands.

He's in too deep and out of fucks to give about it, smiling contentedly against Yusuke's lips, almost a smirk, amused and happy with how events turned and twisted so far tonight.]

[lempereur]

[ He isn't surprised, exactly, but out of inexperience or eagerness or something in that arena, contact comes with a small gasp, until he pushes forward to move the rest of him closer, too.

It does surprise him how soft Brendan is, and not just the kiss, which he returns with enthusiasm. It's the touch of his hand, the hair on the back of his neck when Yusuke frees a hand to rest there, pulling him closer even still. It's another unexpected similarity, something that makes him want to pry deeper, discover even more. Even so, Yusuke tries to match him, stay on his level, playfully scratch and twist the hair on the back of his head. 

But, he's as intense about this as he is about everything else, and inhibition was out the window a long time ago. His mouth opens in a slight chuckle against the other boy, before closing their mouths together again to press further. Demanding? Maybe. But certainly genuine. ]

[pale_blue_arrow]

[Brendan smiles against that gasp; he feels like he's called a bluff, but in a good way, maybe, because Yusuke's response is nothing if not enthusiastic. After the kind of life Brendan's had, enthusiastic consent is more or less the only kind he can take.

He shuts his eyes and tilts his head into the touch, needy for even the small feeling of his hair, alright a curly moppy disaster to begin with, being played with. Out of instinct, his body presses closer when he's pulled in, basking in how warm and soft and sweet everything feels. Brendan's brain shuts down and he kisses back harder, opens his mouth for Yusuke to explore if he wants, freely giving into any demands that Yusuke might make.

He's up for anything Yusuke wants to do, which could go wrong, but he's always played the zero-sum game. It's always everything or nothing and he'll deal with the fallout as it comes.]

[lempereur]

[ Yusuke takes the opportunity as it presents himself, always looking for a chance to know more, feel more, be inspired more. If anything, he's a little overly inspired, which he would realize if he were thinking about it at all, but suddenly it's far too hot in there to think straight.

His hands tangle tighter in Brendan's hair,  not too roughly, at least not on purpose, but with need. He needs to escape the drama, the heartache, the endless stream of killers and liars he's fallen in with. Yusuke made a vow last year, formed a pact with his own spirit, on the condition that he no longer avert his eyes from the truth. Maybe he's broken it by coming here in the first place and finding comfort in a stranger instead of fixing the problems he already has, but there are just too many of them to even begin.  Everything about his life here is a mess, even the pieces that were supposed to be his rays of light are being threatened by the clouds, the ugliness that he thought he ended in his own world, he didn't, and now it's back to infect his new one.

He can't do anything about any of it right now, but having someone who feels like he gets it, even if he couldn't possibly know, makes him feel less angry and terrified and alone. Having his tongue in his mouth helps even more, makes it easy to peel the things from his mind he doesn't want and replace them with something pleasant and inessential.

Breathing isn't something he even thinks about until his hand is sliding up the side of Brendan's leg, and he breaks the kiss for that, leaning their foreheads together lightly as something inside him urges him back into reality with an awkward, amused huff. ]

I don't... [ Don't what? He doesn't even know. ] I don't ever do this.

[pale_blue_arrow]

[Yusuke is easily the least fucked-up person Brendan has ever been with, by a long mile, and it's intoxicating. His own litany of exes include drug dealers and murderers and criminals, people he had to take down, some he saw die, and he has a void where other people keep their optimism. What he needs is someone who won't flinch away from the damage and who won't tell him to get over it, either. He has been forcing neutrality onto his face and monotone into his voice and holding his head high and pretending nothing is wrong for so long that sometimes he's barely able to get out of bed and face the world anymore.

Yeah, he can tell this guy's got damage. But it's familiar damage, damage Brendan knows how hard it is to live with, and his brain is going a hundred miles a minute, feelings bouncing between teenage hormones and a need to protect Yusuke from the world and a desire to comfort him and oh, yes, he's definitely in deep, he's drunk more on these kisses than on the alcohol. Brendan's always defined his home as being beside someone, not as living at a place.

Out of some need to be reassuring he doesn't understand, or maybe just because Yusuke is touching his leg like that and it lends a lot of intimacy to the situation, Brendan kisses him on the cheek gently after Yusuke speaks, almost chastely, gently.]

It's okay. I don't really do this, either. An' you don't have to do anything you don't want to, okay? We can just... [Just what? Cuddle? On someone's couch in the middle of a crowded party? What he settles on is,] just do whatever you need. Do you need this? [Because if not, Brendan has enough decency to back off, even if it'd probably make things awkward.]