don't waste your time on the night

[aglonby]

WHO: the raven gang
WHERE: the meadows
WHEN: august 13th
WHAT: toga party!!!!!!!!!
WARNINGS: alcohol? cuddling? will add any more if necessary.


[ if you're not wearing a toga yet, henry will motion to his bedroom where he's left sheets and printed instructions on how to properly tie a toga. his bedroom consists mostly of a messy bed ( a mattress on the floor ) as well as a fresh christmas tree with lights on.

there's food and drink in the common area and extra in the kitchen. matthew was kind of enough to help, so if you're looking for something he surely knows where you might find it. henry has also set up a music station with his ipod, currently on a playlist of all sorts of things from pop hits to older early 2000s classics they all grew up with to kpop. anyone can scroll through and pick something to play, though. whatever you want to listen to, it's probably there. also he's shameless so good luck music-shaming him. nothing wrong with a bit of tswift from time to time y'all.

drink to your heart's content! mingle! relax a bit! get to know your new friend henry cheng! ]

Comments

ota obvs as the host of this gracious party

[aglonby]

[ this is the first occasion for partying since they arrived here, and henry thinks it is sorely needed. both for himself and for others. after what they've been through back home and the stress of... everything here.

which means he fully intends to get drunk, of course. feel free to comment on his more and more inebriated state as the night wears on, but it'll bounce right off of him. he'll spend most of his time on the couches, though he may pull you in if you sit by him. on occasion, robobee will be on his head or his shoulder. the drunker he gets and the more ridiculous his requests to it might become.

otherwise, you can also find him in his room later in the evening, sitting on his bed and watching robobee fly around his head with a smile. ]

INCOMING

[admemoriam]

Cheng!

[Noah topples onto the couch a ways in, landing partially on Henry's legs. He's pink-cheeked and exuberant, and he seems to have misplaced his whiskey bottle.]

How are you?

[It's accented by a finger to the chest.]

[aglonby]

Casper Chair Knee! [ whoop, gonna get an arm around noah's shoulders so he just doesn't topple right off of the couch and onto the ground. it's fine if henry's legs are getting squished, he'll just tell noah he's a heavy weight when he needs him to move.

he points right back to noah's chest. ] You, sir, smell like whiskey. Where's the bottle?

[ he wants some. why aren't you sharing the goods. meanwhile, henry smells of beer, so he is not much better off. ]

OTA OF COURSE

[dreamkid]

[ You best believe Matthew is wearing the heck out of his toga. He's not shy and he loves silly stuff like this, parties in general, and being surrounded by people having a good time. He laughs and greets everyone as they show up; no one is spared his enthusiastic and entirely innocent admiration of their togas (his took three tries to get right, even with the instructions) or his helpfully pointing out the food.

Occasionally he glances at the door like maybe, maybe Ronan will show up, which even he knows is so unlikely that his disappointment when it doesn't happen is very fleeting. Maybe he'll come to the next party.

No matter how much anyone else drinks, Matthew sticks to soda the whole night, and enjoys maybe a bit more than his fair share of the snacks. Not that he needs to be drunk to let himself get pulled into goofy shenanigans! ]

[aglonby]

[ at a moment where matthew is sitting still, henry is going to jump over with something held behind his back, and then carefully place a paper crown on his head. ]

I am crowning you prince of chip bowls and puppies.

[ why? because matthew is as cute as a puppy and he helped with the chips. and henry is drunk and does not need a reason to crown his friends, let's be real. ]

[dreamkid]

[ For half a second Matthew is confused, and then he lights up--not literally, that's Henry's job--with delight, lifting one hand to brush his fingers against the crown. His other arm is, appropriately enough, carrying a bowl of chips. ]

Thanks! [ The word comes out in a laugh, and he doesn't totally get why he's prince of puppies now but he doesn't question it. Also he's going to wear this crown for the rest of the night. ] Hey-- [ He leans in, eager and happy. ] You were right about toga parties.

[ He's definitely been convinced of their merit, not that he needed a great deal of convincing. ]

[oceiteres]

[ At some point, Blue's going to sidle on over. ] Matthew, can you help me with something?

[ She's starting to have a soft spot for Matthew, maybe especially after all that happened last month. In reality, as much as she's like Ronan and they're made of the same impossible stuff and all, she's unlike Matthew, with his cheer and exuberance and the easy way he seems to be able to talk to everyone about anything and nothing at all. Both things work for her relationships with the Lynch brothers, it seems. ]

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew turns toward her eagerly; by this point he's wearing a paper crown, which is resting slightly crooked on his curls. ]

Sure thing!

[ He likes her, too. He liked her when she was here before, too, but they've been able to hang out more this time around.

Also he's totally serious about helping her out with whatever the thing is but he gets distracted and notices something else first, and being Matthew, he has to say something right away. ]

I just realized your toga is blue, too.

[ He laughs, like this is possibly the most clever thing he's ever seen. ]

get in losers

[admemoriam]

[Okay, this tiny spook is not new to partying, whether or not his friends are acquainted with that fact. From the patches he remembers, his three years at Aglionby were filled more with elaborate pranks and lake parties and joints on the dormitory roof than they were with academic medals and pressed shirts. Years of death have calmed him, mellowing out the wilder spots, but he can still shoot liquor like Virginia's far-from-finest.

Whether it will take him ten or twenty minutes to get extraordinarily drunk is the question tonight. He's cheerily carrying around a small bottle of cinnamon whiskey, and his floral-sheet toga is double-knotted on his bony, freckled shoulder.

At some point during the night, he will come up and drape himself over your shoulders. In fact, that's what he's doing right about now, settling his warm chin into the crook of your neck.]

You're the best. Did you know you're the best?

[It will take some prying to get him off. He's a very affectionate drunk.]

[dreamkid]

[ That would imply that Matthew feels any need to pry him off, which he doesn't, definitely not right away. He laughs, surprised and quite pleased by the show of affection, and makes an attempt to turn his head and look at Noah, which doesn't really work because of how close they are. It just ends with his cheek pressed against soft blond hair. ]

Noah. [ His tone is delighted and amused at once. ]

You're great, too, [ he assures him, and means it. ]

[admemoriam]

[Noah tries to press a sloppy kiss to the side of Matthew's face, but he miscalculates, and gets his earlobe instead. He laughs, holding it between his lips for a second.]

You're greater. [Don't argue the point, Matthew. He presses his face closer.] You smell like... something good. Pillows. Good pillows.

[oceiteres]

[ There's some nose-poking going on here. But because of the way Noah is sprawled all over, a few of Blue's wayward tapping motions may go slightly awry and he might get poked in the cheek. ]

The best what, Noah? [ Tiny bit amused.

Tiny. Very small. Slightly amused. This amusement is motivated a little bit by sobriety, to be honest. Blue's not drinking tonight, except perhaps to have sneaked a sip of beer from someone. ]

Your toga's very attractive. [ Blue's toga is... blue. Lookit that. ]

[admemoriam]

You're very attractive.

[Look, she walked right into that one. And he means it in a purely harmless way - it's just a universal fact that Blue is a tiny rainforest goddess, and he will never not be completely impressed by her appearance.]

And you're the best Blue, duh.

[He says it against the side of her neck, like it's a bit of a secret.]

( mostly ) ota.

[aberth]

a. locked to Gansey.

[ They're getting changed in Adam's room.

Gansey is with him, because Gansey has that strange prudishness common to the very rich. It's ridiculous, because at least Adam has a door and has so far never elected to skip owning an honest to God bedroom. It's not uncomfortable though, the ease of friendship soothing over anyone's sensibilities. They've seen each other in worse states than trying to pull a sock off while standing / hopping on one leg. He looks almost relaxed as he tosses his jeans someplace near what is presumably a pile of laundry. If anyone thought Adam Parrish lacked boyishness, that's evident now. ]

I still can't believe you're making me take part.

[ In the togas, not the party.

Adam has to shoo Copernicus off the folded bedsheet ( and what a luxury it was to be able to afford more than one set ) before he's faced with the very real fact that he doesn't know how to work one into anything that could resemble clothing. There's a very studious frown between his fair brows. ]

Togas went out of fashion for a reason.

b.

[ It will come as no surprise to everyone that Adam is not drinking. Instead he has a coke in one hand, his other idly flicking through Henry's music catalogue. While there's not a great deal in his expression, his hands hold the thing like it's fragile. Some traits don't disappear and having something expensive where he might break it still freaks him out more often than not. The music's anything he recognises, but then again, Adam has never been a radio listener. He never had time. Kitty had tried to help but then she'd sent him down a cheesey pop spiral and that had been enough. Boyd's had favoured the same slow country his parents might have, Gansey tended to play something hideous from the sixties, and Ronan --.

Well, he's not here to complain about the music.

So Adam keeps looking through it, good ear angled away from the speakers it's attached to in case anyone approaches. Which is handy really, when someone does. ]

Any ideas?

c. ota

[ The nice thing about being in company he can trust is that when the alcohol starts to hit his friends he doesn't have the same-old need to hide. In fact, he's treating it all with barely concealed amusement.

If anyone gets tangled in their toga, Adam is there on hand. Feeling a bit wobbly? Have a leaning post. Lost your sanity? Well, that might be best left for the morning. ]

b!

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew lights up when he sees Adam and helpfully scoots in to look at the ipod, reaching over to scroll through the songs while the other boy holds it. Matthew's no overthinker and so the very first song he sees that he knows and likes is the one he chooses. ]

What about this?

[ The song starts and it's something unreasonably catchy, with lyrics that are just vague enough to be fun but not crude. It's playful and upbeat and doesn't have a huge deal of substance, which makes it a great party song. ]

[aberth]

[ It's generic, but then that's not always a bad thing. Adam's at least a little relieved he can put the iPod down now. ]

It's fine.

[ It sounds all right for the kind of vibe tonight's trying for, anyway. He twists from where he's been sat on the arm of the chair to look at Matthew while they talk, momentarily making sure his toga hasn't become untied or he's not flashing too much thigh. He hates how aware he is of this being unnatural. He hates that Gansey always wins him over. ] You okay?

[ Matthew has no shortage of friends here, but Ronan hasn't joined them and therefore he feels almost ... responsible for checking. ] Having fun?

a

[quaerit]

[ Gansey, who has worn a toga recently enough for it to be familiar to him, doesn't have a problem with his clothes. He wraps the sheet around him, fastening it with a knot over one shoulder, and then slides back into his Top Siders. It's not as if he has to look completely Roman during all of this. Satisfied, he turns to look at Adam. ]

Second time lucky and all that. You missed the first time, even if you don't remember it yet.

[ Just don't...mind him taking some liberties with his tenses. He adjusts the knot, trying to make it sit neatly. ]

Should I redo this? I think it's uneven -

Hold on.

[ There's a flash of light, and all of a sudden, there are two Ganseys inside Adam's room. The clone he's just summoned turns at once to start working on the knot, and Gansey looks over his own shoulder at his friend. ]

No joy at all with Ronan?

[aberth]

[ Adam spends a good minute studying Gansey's toga before trying to copy it, an irritable huff of breath falling from him. Why can't people have parties in normal clothes? ]

Future me must still have some sense left, then.

[ Which is a little strange, if Adam says he's run out now. Time travel is a piece of shit. The Porter is a piece of shit. And not just because he's feeling uncharitable about bed sheets. ]

No. I didn't ask. If Matthew can't get him to come, I doubt I could. [ And he's not going to be the kind of person who tries to guilt their significant other. He won't. ] He'll be back sometime in the morning, probably.

c.

[admemoriam]

[Many, many drinks in, Noah latches onto the very edge of Adam's toga, and presses soft hair against his arm. There's a sleepy smile on his face, but his fingers are still tapping lazily to the music.]

I'm glad you're here, Adam.

[It's slurred and sloppy, like he might just doze off where he's standing, and have very happy dreams.]

You should make up tons of cool stuff to tell Ronan he missed.

[aberth]

[ Surprisingly, he doesn't tense up.

He's not sure when things changed. Noah was always a little terrifying, to Adam, and in his more unhappy moments he wondered why that was. Why it had to be him who saw the bad in everything, why he couldn't trust or care for his friend the same way that Gansey did. But maybe being here helps. Because Noah is solid and real and not made of the same kind of darkness that had Adam hearing voices and wandering miles and miles without control. Because neither of them have Cabeswater, and though Adam misses the trees in a way he can't control, it's better. They're better.

They feel like people. ]

Yeah.

[ He is too, he likes seeing his friends happy. ] Do you really want him throwing you out of a window here? It might actually hurt this time.

c

[aglonby]

Parrish my man! [ have a hearty slap on the back! careful not to displace any toga knots, of course. and what's that? he has a cup of soda for adam. how nice. ]

No beer, just soda. [ he may be drunk, but something softens in his face, like he really means what he says next. ] I'm glad you came.

[ robobee blinks heartily on his shoulder, as if in agreement. ]

one locked one open!

[quaerit]

A: Drunken Hijinks - OTA

[ Gansey has had too much to drink. Well, technically, Gansey Prime has not had too much to drink, but he's been liberal about playing with his clone powers during the party, and several of them have come back to him inebriated. He has discovered, to equal parts amusement and horror, that their drunkenness becomes his drunkenness as soon as he absorbs them again. Really, he ought to have thought of that.

He did not think of that.

But as a result, he's remarkably relaxed. He's draped over one of the sofas - or, at least, Gansey Prime is on the sofa. Another clone is on the floor, and another is raiding the freezer for more gelato. Prime lets all of this happen, while studying the label of whatever beer he's ended up with. His toga has been pulled slightly sideways, but in his own humble opinion, still looks regal. His Top Siders complete this wonderful look, and he's wearing his glasses instead of his contacts in case he forgets to take the latter out before bed. Which is likely, in his current state. ]

Why do people put lime in their beer bottles? [ He asks, no doubt speaking for the nation. ] It seems a shame to waste them. Does it even improve the taste or does it just ruin the lime as well as the beer?

[ Please someone stop him talking. ]

B: Questioning - Closed to Henry and Blue

[ They've been talking about this ever since Noah mentioned it. They had been waiting for the right time to ask, and really, could there be a better time than at a party like this? There's alcohol, everyone is in high spirits, and if it all went wrong, there would be distractions ready and on hand in order for the whole thing to be forgotten.

Not that it was going to go wrong.

Gansey waits for Henry to go into his bedroom before he touches Blue's elbow. ]

There, we can ask him now! Before he comes out again. It's the perfect time, no one's watching.

[ And he maybe just wants to get everything out in the open, at last. ]

TURN UP

[admemoriam]

[There's no warning - with a slight creak of couch springs, one (1) small Noah has rolled over the back of the sofa and right onto Gansey. He settles in like a woozy cat, all tickly eyelashes and bony elbows, laughing while he finds his bearings. In one hand, the half-empty bottle of whiskey sloshes.]

It's hard to ruin something that tastes like rat piss.

[He reaches down with one hand to touch the floor-clone's hair.]

[oceiteres]

[ Blue has been enjoying the evening alcohol-free. Gansey has not. Which is fine! She's still very much on the same page with him regarding their little mission. She looks over, nodding once. ]

Let's go. [ Without much ceremony, she holds out her hand to him, intending that he take it so they can proceed onward. She feels bizarrely skittish. Maybe she should have had a beer.

With her free hand, she smooths at her ensemble, which consists of a bright blue sheet. There may be some multi-colored pins stuck to it. ] It's okay, we're just asking if he'll tell us.

He doesn't have to answer if he doesn't want to.

a

[aglonby]

[ this is delightful. the clones are already fascinating normally, but drunk? it's like having a handful of ganseys around. which is weird, but also awesome. henry is enjoying it a lot.

what is even more delightful is gansey prime's rambling, and how henry is just smiling and nodding and reaching over to try and fix his toga for him. he's not paying much attention, just enough to reply something in turn as his focus is stuck on arranging the sheet around gansey. ]

You are too fancy for lime in beer, Richardman.