Plot Twist

"Well, I suspect I'm going to be blacked out by the time tonight ends," Sabrina let her best friend know, letting out a deep breath as if readying herself for the madness. "Happy, happy birthday." She smiled brightly, wrapping her arms around Austin. "How is it you only get more handsome with every passing year? My god."

"I would expect nothing less, we've only got so many blackout years before our bodies rebel," he joked. "I know, I know, a gift and a curse, mostly a gift," he told her and framed his fist before hugging her back. "This one has me feeling old though, Not in a I'm sad I'm old kind of way bit in a holy shit I'm older kind of way. Like I really made it to this point," he told her, not feeling silly for admitting it, especially with her. "Doesn't mean I'm not also gonna drink my ass off. I promised my mom I wouldn't get too fucked up on Christmas Eve this year because my brother is gonna propose to his girlfriend. I feel like proposing on my birthday is Diva behavior but yanno, comes with the territory I guess."

"Oh hold on." Adeline pulled back to get a better look at him, not because she was struggling to come up with a compliment but she wanted to give a good one. "Do you wear this color a lot? It's good on you and not just in an aesthetic sense, like it's capturing your aura."

"You know, I'm so glad you said something because I don't usually wear it but I think I'm gonna make it one of my colors for the next year so thank you very much," he told her with a bit of a bow. "Just for that specificity, I think two free drinks is on the menu for you, my friend," he added and handed her two raffle tickets. "What's gonna be your first drink?"

"Yeah so that's insane," she joked back, figuring her and Mae could agree on that. "Love it for him though and I mean- he probably won''t make it his whole personality. Both is good. If you don't mind." Gemma offered her a smile as she brought the mug closer to her. "Fun and kind of cold, I don't think you missed much. I'd say we're running out of ideas a little but somebody could throw a party at an active construction site and people would still show, so."

"And somehow still not the most insane thing he does on a daily basis." She laughed as she joined her across the counter. "You know, you're 100% right. I think if people know there will be a mass gathering, they're just gonna go, no questions asked. Kind of scary but maybe everyone needs more hobbies. That's what helps me stay away from it all. Well that and my general avoidance of people who thrive on gossip."

Gemma froze when she realized it was Simon's sister in the kitchen and not him. No big deal of course, she just wished she'd put on pants first. "Right right," she nodded. "He is really fast so that's fine honestly." She smiled at Mae once she turned around, having moved to hide her bare legs behind the counter. "Yeah sure. Thank you."

"Yeah I think he's gonna run a marathon soon which is kind of annoying but I guess we'll have to suffer," she joked, knowing that they'd probably go all out to cheer him on just for him to finish in under two hours. "Sugar? Milk? We've got it all," she offered as she filled a mug and placed it in front of Gemma. The Rapp siblings had splurged on a pretty expensive coffee machine so Mae felt like a barista most mornings. "How was the party last night? I didn't make it out but Otis sent me pictures. Mostly to make me feel bad I wasn't with him but you know. It seemed cool."

"Really?" Gemma thought she was about as nimble as a polar bear but she managed to make it up. Once she felt secure enough she smiled against his lips then turned ever so slightly, settling into his side. For as self-conscious of a person as she was, a lot of that noise faded to the background when she was with Simon. That wasn't to say she she didn't get embarrassed ever- but they could make out in broad daylight without much regard for anyone else. "There's a sauna here? I feel like that'd be fine, or even just smoking in there would probably be awesome. We should do that."

"I think so, yeah. This place is like all about relaxation and exercise and shit. I've taught some clients here before." Simon's smile grew when she agreed. "You see the vision, hot and sweaty and hi, like being stoned in the middle of summer on the beach. One of my favorite feelings." He stayed quiet for a moment, just floating with her there and thinking about how nice it was. Simon was usually always jumping from thought to thought, feeling to feeling but lying here with Gemma he was actually just focused on how chill it felt. That was different for him. He wanted to say something sweet about it but he couldn't find the words, that had always been Otis's strong suit so instead he kissed the top of her head as he did his best to slowly paddle them towards the stairs with one arm. "Are we even moving or are we about to fall in?"

"It happens all the time around here, doesn't it. You think we'd learn." She chuckled at the sound he made, grin stretching across her face as he complimented her. "And we'd have to huddle for warmth of course." Cautiously she took his hand, sure there was no way to gracefully join him, and pursed her lips as she considered her best approach. "We can try..." Gemma hesitated a moment longer before she scrambled up the float, figuring it was better to get up quickly than risk throwing it off balance. She ended up sort of on top of him, not straddling exactly. "Okay," she laughed as she looked down at him. "Hey."

"I mean of course. I'm really liking our chances of survival here." Simon held onto her tightly, doing his best to keep the floatie steady as she climbed up. "Woah, you're kind of a pro at this," he told her, moving his arm to lay across her waist so he could stop her from slipping off. "Sup," he told her with a laugh before leaning in to kiss her. "Much better." Simon was always used to having a good time but somehow with Gemma the good time had gotten impossibly better. "Alright, so snowed in, pool full of sharks, what's next? Do you think there are like bad affects to hot boxing a sauna? I wonder if I'd pass out or not."

"The fish would love a field trip, they so deserve that." She flipped over from floating on her back and waded closer to him, chin resting on the edge of his floatie. "That's like Hunger Games level stuff. With everyone gathered here too... Actually, and I don't even wanna put this into the universe, but imagine getting snowed in here."

"Woah, snowed in at the pool. Kind of a mind fuck. One crack of glass, boom," he said, making a sound as if the roof was gonna fall in on them. "Freaky. Feel like we could melt it somehow. You definitely could with how hot you look in that bathing suit. One stare," he told her and pulled his best blue steel face, "and you'd save us all." He let out a dreamy sigh before reaching out for her hand. "You wanna get up here? I feel like we could do it without flipping over."

"None that we know of... it's a big house." If everyone truly left the party unscathed she'd be a little disappointed, she couldn't deny that. Without missing a beat, she gave him a "Yes," lips parting into a smirk. "I'm not singing to you- for a number of reasons, but I don't really know her music."

"Fair point, there are a lot of corners." He laughed at how quickly she said yes and almost broke out into song right then and there. "It's actually pretty solid stuff. I'll play you a song later, I won't break out into song just yet. This hostess glow is really doing it for me, I don't want to fuck it up," he teased. "What's your favorite set up in the house? I was personally very taken by the front lawn display. Tens across the board, babe."

"I wouldn't," October warned a party guest as they came dangerously close to one of the antiques: thumbscrew, self explanatory. People getting hurt didn't concern her but replacing the family decor- that'd be annoying. She plucked the straw from her drink and put it through the device for demonstration purposes, tightening it until the plastic disintegrated. "Cool, right."

"I totally would though, it's great for strengthening your hands." Austin laughed as he watched the person go. "I'm actually a little surprised there hasn't been more real bloodshed. Night is still young I guess," he told her, pushing his hair out of his face before re-adjusting his tiara. "I should've anticipated how much this costume would prompt people just singing to me out of nowhere. Is this me getting a taste of my own medicine as a theater kid?"

"I get that like the ocean is cold ... probably ... I think. Actually, I'm not sure because global warming is happening so technically the sea levels are rising now, and ... well anyway, I get the ocean is cold but whoever cranked up the AC I just wanna have a word." Patton's outfit was on theme but truly at what cost. He did his best not to shiver while pouring himself a drink. At this point, it was almost embarrassing.

"You think your nipples could cut glass right now because I think we should try it." Austin laughed as he looked him over. "You look fucking great though. If that helps. I would offer you my jacket but I am shirtless literally all of pride but I have a very, very heavy beer jacket on right now," he joked though he had managed to reach a very nice level of high and slightly tipsy. "Also means you gotta dance more, dude. You need to get your sweat on. Not stand over here shivering like a baby deer."

"Or perhaps you didn't imagine it?" Otis suggested, with a shrug. "Perhaps, and this is just an assumption, my brother just pulled one of those moves. You know, the one guys typical tend to make. They moved onto the next thing without much thought or consideration for the other person. The fellow members of my gender tend to do that." He let Mae know with a sigh. "Have you thought about maybe talking to him about it? Because as much as we can speculate, I think you'll get answers straight from the source." Otis let her know, before reaching over to rub at Mae's back. "You can't imagine how happy I would be if I got stuck with you." Otis agreed with her, the smile on his face only growing. "Well, you know not everyone was graced with two musically inclined parents and I feel for those who weren't." He nodded, as that was no even a matter of conversation. Mae had always managed to see him, and he was happy to do that same for her. "Is that so? Where will I be catching sight of your newest work, now?"

"That's the thing, knowing it was real just makes it feel worse," she admitted and rubbed at her forehead as she thought about it. "And I'd rather bang my head against a wall then have a conversation where the result will kind of be the same. Closure is overrated," she admitted, puffing out her cheeks for a moment. It was helpful just to say it out loud to Otis and have it validated and now she just wanted to find a way to move on. It was clear Lyrica and Jimi were really into each other and she just wanted to be happy for them. She smiled as she leaned into his touch, grateful for him in so many ways and grateful that she had friendships that held her so tenderly. "Well yes, you are blessed in that way for sure. And yes, that is so. I met with the curator yesterday. It's a gallery space downtown. I showed her some of the painting stuff I've been exploring lately so I'm hopeful we can settle on one of those pieces. Mostly because they're just easier to carry. Remember when you guys had to all help me get my marble statue to Ravenwood in one piece? That was a successful disaster."