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CARNEY PARTY 3; WILD WEST

Saddle up, partner. This New Year’s Eve, we’re heading out west!

The Carney house is decked out in a rustic Wild West theme. The place is covered in hay bales, mason jars, and cacti (even inside). Cameron greets each guest that arrives with a silver pistol that shoots paintballs. For dinner, a house elf catering company appears, cooking barbeque over a pit in the yard. There’s also plenty of alcohol - beer, liquor, wine, you name it.

HOW THIS WORKS

Everyone in the school is invited! As with parties Cameron has held in the past, the rules are simple: have fun, don’t make too much of a mess, and if you break something reparo it. The party starts at 6 PM, and anyone is welcome to stay the night and take the bus back to school from here in the morning.

Characters without costumes can pull an item from the costume chest, but once they pull, they’re obligated to wear it or risk mockery for being a spoilsport. There is also a mechanical bull riding contest out in the yard. The character with the longest ride will win a prize! You may do each of these up to three times, and I’ll keep rnging for them until 11:59 PM on 1/1.

There will be party games including truth, shot, or strip and spin the bottle/seven minutes in heaven.

» FOYER; COSTUME CHEST: Those without costumes are encouraged to pull at least one item from the chest set up in the foyer. Whatever you pull out, you have to wear! The chest is charmed so that you can’t see what you’ve got until you pull it out.

» LIVING ROOM: Have a seat on a hay bale! Or a regular couch.

» BACKYARD: The yard is surrounded by facades that mimic an old western town. There’s a heated pool and a hot tub, but the lows tonight are 21. Beside the pool, there’s a mechanical bull surrounded by padding. If you can go for the longest ride, you’ll win a prize!

» DEN; PARTY GAMES: The den has been set up for party games, including truth, shot, or strip and spin the bottle/seven minutes in heaven.

» BEDROOMS: Anyone is welcome to stay, but it’s up to you to figure out where, because Cameron isn’t organizing it. There are five unlocked bedrooms, plenty of couches and chairs, five full baths, and lots of floor space. Work it out.

» MIDNIGHT: Near midnight, Cameron encourages everyone to stop what they’re doing and come outside, where champagne and sparklers are handed out. The fireworks start about ten minutes til, crescendoing during the countdown, with a big finale at midnight. Grab someone to smooch!

» MORNING AFTER: Who’s hungover and where did you puke? Did you stick around to catch the bus back to school from Olympus?

» OOC - Questions, comments, concerns!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Iliya's been wandering around the huge house, looking for a familiar face. He finally spots Casper and Cameron in the shadows of the backyard, but... there's a mood in the air, like he might be walking in on a serious conversation.

His instincts tell him to walk away, he's not welcome. Iliya takes a deep breath. Stop. Of course they wouldn't mind. Old habits are hard to break. Even after all this time, even with Cameron and Casper. He crosses the few meters to reach his friends. "Nice party." He has a drink in his hand. He's not quite sure what's in it.

Iliya's arrival is unexpected but it's the pleasant sort of unexpected and Casper leans around Cameron to offer the other boy a small smile. It hasn't been long since they went their separate ways after Portugal, but it's still good to see the other boy. He gives a nod of acknowledgment and agreement and then asks with wry amusement, "Want a hat?"

Cameron can't force him to keep this stupid thing on. Probably.

"Iliya, you're heeeere!" Cameron says. He stands up to give the other boy a hug. He's quickly distracted by Casper. "Um, nope, nu-uh, he has a hat," Cameron says, and then he takes his own hat off and drops it on Iliya's head.

Iliya actually laughs, and doesn't remove Cameron's hat. "Zdraveite. I could not miss the party of the year, yes?" He looks from Cameron to Casper. "Not in the mood for Spin the Bottle?"

Casper doesn't get up to hug Iliya (the experience would be immensely awkward for both of them) but he does watch the other boys with quiet fondness. He doesn't even point out that Cameron is now without a hat. Once their warmer greeting has ended, he puts in, "Glad you made it, Krum."

Then he shrugs. He should just say no but he doesn't. "I need to clear my head. That's all."

Edited 2018-01-01 05:55 (UTC)

Cameron takes his seat next to Casper again, running his fingers through his hair. His mama talked him into a hair cut, like she always does when he goes home, and it still feels strange. "The best way to clear your head, pardner, is to share your troubles with your pals!" Cameron says with his best cowboy voice. It's not terribly different than his usual one. "And also, drink."

"I can fetch one." Iliya tastes the drink in his hand, which someone had shoved at him. Sugary, which he likes, and Casper would hate. He stays where he is, standing in front of his friends, and casually glancing around for Wilde or Ulysses' presences.

Casper's dark eyes move between the pair and he hesitates. But it's a temporary uncertainty. Because if he can't talk to Cameron and Iliya...just who can he talk to? He shakes his head. "I've had enough to drink. And drinking so fucking much was part of the problem."

The problem. He doesn't know any other shorthand to describe it and now that he's acknowledged it aloud there's probably no turning back. He exhales, lips thinning into an even tighter line than usual. "...This stays between us. And if you laugh, you're going in the fucking pool. Agreed?" This threat is completely toothless and isn't even delivered with any intensity. But he's got to go through the motions.

Edited 2018-01-01 06:28 (UTC)

Cameron holds up his hands defensively. "A'ight, calm down. If I laugh, throw me in the pool. Though, I feel like, for the sake of full disclosure, I should point out that it is heated," he replies with a grin. "So, what's your trouble?"

"Obeshtavam. I never laugh," Iliya says with the utmost Bulgarian seriousness, even though that's an obvious lie. If it were anyone other than Casper, this shift in tone might be worrying, but... it's Casper. Everything is life and death with him.

Casper's definitely had too much to drink. He can't even make a coherent threat. He feels his jaw clench in a moment of pointless embarrassment before he nods and focuses instead on how to start. What to say. "After we played Truth or Shot on the beach in Lisbon, I was writing in my journal. It was late. We needed to get back to the hotel but we were all just fucking around. Do you remember?"

Cameron doesn't push, just scoots forward so that he can stick his bare feet into the pool as he listens. "Can't say I remember specifics, but I remember the situation in general," he replies.

"I was very drunk," Iliya agrees, in a much more succinct way. But he's not even tipsy right now, so he gives Casper a curious look. Casper is going to talk around the problem forever unless they get to the point. "Who were you talking to?"

The nearer the conversation gets to the actual point, the tenser Casper seems to become. But he doesn't protest when Iliya forces things forward. He just shakes his head and answers as concisely as he can without giving a name. That doesn't feel right just yet. "A girl that wanted to talk to me about one of the anonymous Candygrams I got. And about the dance she couldn't bring herself to ask me to. And...shit like that." This is a dismissive and unkind way to end the thought but it makes him feel a bit more grounded in himself and so he lets it slide. Then he looks at the other two Ebonhides.

"So she likes you!" Cameron says, forgetting that he was going to be quiet and patient. He does at least have the sense not to push for her identity yet. "So, do... you like her?"

Iliya notices how Casper refuses to name the girl, but he can sympathize. You'd have to threaten to break one of his fingers to get Iliya to name his crushes.

"Do you want to like her?" Maybe it's a strange question, next to Cameron's. But he feels like Casper would understand this particular dilemma.

"She didn't say she likes me," Casper protests lamely, though even he knows how that sounds after everything he's just said. He hadn't been certain until he'd said it aloud but, yes. At the time, at least, she'd liked him. And he...doesn't know how he feels or how he wants to feel. And it might not matter anymore anyway. He glares down at the concrete and stone beneath them.

"And that was before all the shit I said to her, anyway." He goes to push back his hair, feels the brim of the hat instead, and drops his hand irritably. "Like...'Even if I'd gone to the dance, I would've wanted to go alone'." He'd really had a lot to drink that night. And he really was a fucking idiot.

Cameron laughs a little, forgetting that he promised he wouldn't. "Casper, I think if she likes you, well... she's got to know you at least a little. You're... prickly. But it's part of your charm." Even drunk, Cameron's noticed that Casper hasn't answered his or Iliya's questions. "You didn't mean nothing mean by it, right? She probably knows. Or if you don't think she does, then... tell her? If it's important to you."

"Cameron is right. You have said worse things to all of us, yes?" He means this affectionately, but it comes out a little flat. But Iliya knows his roommates are used to him sounding blunt, just as they're all used to Casper sounding unkind sometimes. "It is important. You would not be telling us if it was not."

What's this? A small cluster of Ebonhide senior boys, looking focused and kind of serious? Well, good golly gosh, guess it's time for their worst roommate to barge right in. Head's up, boys. Somebody sensed you were having fun without him.

The word "important" catches Ulysses' attention as he walks over, pricking up his ears, but not, somehow, prompting any additional consideration. In fact, his attitude is all casual as he strolls over to the edge of the pool and sits himself right down in the middle of the conversation. Then, he flicks Iliya's hat.

"What're y'all talking about?" There's no need to recap for him; he can learn to listen like a normal adult.

Edited (whoop forgot to fix the title) 2018-01-01 16:36 (UTC)

Casper hasn't forgotten the promise and he shoots Cameron a glare. There's not much heat in it, though, and any heat that had been there disappears when his friends reassure him by reminding him that he's an asshole. And that anyone that liked him would know that he's an asshole. It's true, but still. He sighs and looks off...only to see Ulysses trotting toward them. It's a surprise but not an unwelcome one. Even if he knows immediately that Ulysses is going to enjoy this conversation more than he ought to.

He considers trying to change the subject (would Ulysses like a hat?) but doesn't. Instead, he murmurs wryly, "The shitty things that I say to people." Iliya or Cameron are welcome to correct him, though.

Edited 2018-01-01 16:51 (UTC)

"You bullyin' folks again?" Ulysses replies cheerfully as he settles into a slightly more comfortable position. A champagne flute dangles perilously loose in his fingers, and he takes a healthy swig of his drink — a glass of Crémant d'Alsace rosé that he desperately hopes no one else has seen him drink.

"Kickin' puppies? Metaphorically speaking." He points at Casper in mock-condemnation. "Not that I'd put it past you."

Ulysses does not believe that Casper would, under any circumstances, kick a little dog.

Edited (pink sparkling wine for my worst boy) 2018-01-01 19:08 (UTC)

"I'd have to work my way up to puppies," Casper retorts wryly, "I should probably start small. Maybe with a skink." He would not, under any circumstances, kick a little dog or a skink.

Edited 2018-01-01 19:10 (UTC)

"Well! Speaking of shitty," Ulysses says, gesturing exaggeratedly at the other boys as if to say 'Can you believe this?'

He knows Casper's kidding, of course, which is why he manages to stop himself from telling him to keep his hands (or feet) off of his baby like some kind of histrionic PTA mom. But it's a close call.

Iliya rolls his eyes. Casper is clearly going to wallow in self-pity instead of listening to Cameron, and Ulysses is about two steps away from reciting a numerical list of Rex's best qualities and personal accomplishments. "A girl likes Casper. He was rude. Now he worries she does not like him anymore, because he likes her." He raises his eyebrows at Casper. "Yes?"

Edited (i want everyone to know that cam literally wrote us a fucking list) 2018-01-01 19:38 (UTC)

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