i'm off like a dirty shirt.

"Have we?," he countered, brows furrowed teasingly. After he'd straightened his shorts out, he stood up straight again. "Steve Harv-," he laughed then shook his head. "Um, Rupaul, in But I'm A Cheerleader? If you've seen it?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," he grizzled, vaguely awkward yet humorous, constantly stuck in a never ending loop of being unsure if he was actually confident or simply pretending at any given moment. People like Gerald's friend Chuck were so lucky with their natural charisma and magnetism. Even he wasn't immune to it, which was saying something because he was judgmental as hell. "Oh.... oh! Not gonna lie I was trying to figure out how 'something you'd like your girlfriend to do to your face' was gonna factor in here. And the shirt... it's so dark in here and you want people to read? That's a sly tactic, you devilish hound, I'm onto you."

"What?" He couldn't hide the horror on his face as he looked down, and though he hadn't totally lost his shorts, they seemed to ride up so far they'd practically disappeared which wasn't much better. Quickly he unrolled them back down, giving Lip a sheepish smile once he looked up. "Thank you, I, uh, yeah. Pokemon?," he motioned to his outfit, the R on his top and color of his hair giving Team Rocket if they slayed.. but maybe he had that wrong.

"We've all been there," Lip attempted to be comforting as Gerald scrambled for the hem of his shorts, which thankfully still seemed to be attached to his body if only wedged in his lower colon. "Prepare for trouble," he purred the first line of Team Rocket's greeting, affirming the guess on his costume. "And you are..." he narrowed his eyes, locking in. "Sexy Steve Harvey?"

Gerald could feel his shorts riding up throughout the night, to which he was constantly tugging back down. How the likes of Paul Mescal lived like this he had no clue. As he rounded a tight corner of the Addams house he got caught on some of their furniture, awkwardly stumbling back to ensure he didn't accidentally pants himself. "Oh shit sorry," he apologized as he bumped into someone, "Dark house."

As much as it was a common occurrence for him to lose Aria in the bustle of a party, he couldn't say it wasn't his own fault. He had the attention span of a gnat, constantly drawn to the next shiny thing– in that case, a glowing light disappearing down a terrifyingly dark hallway. "Oh Jesus! Are you-" he paused, looking Gerald over because he didn't seem like someone trying to cause trouble, "have you lost your pants?"

She raised a brow back at him, engaging in an entirely silent exchange with him in just their facial expressions. Seeing as he'd never been subtle a day in his life, Cecily didn't even hide the way she looked over his shoulder as he pulled his phone out. "What's your costume idea?," she asked, unsure how to respond to that other part. "I think you should stay here, because I'd miss you plus- Once it gets colder you might have better luck with that cuddling thing."

To be fair, Lip tended to declare every minor inconvenience his last straw so the sentiment had somewhat watered itself down whenever he got started. "Something cunty... James from Team Rocket maybe... Pink Pony Plankton... I always have options in case I get invited to more than one party." If he balked at Cecily admitting she'd miss him he played it off as well as he could, attention hovering on his phone for a moment longer before he managed to look over at her. "When the first big snow hits you bet your ass I'm instigating a snow in. If you have anyone you want to find yourself in a survival situation with let me know and I'll do my best. I'm a giver like that."

Cecily frowned a moment, attempting to place just how soon was soon. "What's today?" As fun as it was to dress up she never was one to stress a costume- something her and Lip drastically differed on. "Oh I think you could pull that off, what if you put that on one of your apps, or- whatever. 'Ask me about our couples costume."

Lip's side eye was scalding enough that he didn't need to speak on how Cecily's nonchalance had him in a state of near offended disbelief. Considering he could talk underwater if he wanted to it was actually quite impressive how much they could share without saying anything at all. "See, this is why you're my smart friend!" he fished his phone out of his pocket and murmured as he typed her idea into his bio. "Not gonna lie it's so boring matching with people who won't let me stay over to cuddle. This halloween is my last stand so I hope the men of Rosewood are listening!" he raised his voice a little, looking around as if he were talking to anyone within earshot. "My parents work abroad so maybe I'll make like a migratory bird and winter with them. Unless you'd miss me too much. I'd stay if you couldn't bear it, obviously."

"I mean I won't argue with that. Make it a double." Dev was having a great time and having someone buy him drinks never felt like a bad thing. "Plus I think if I'm going to protect you from the angry mob, the least you can do is help me get drunk," Dev added with a smirk, swaying along with the music. "I'm sticking with vodka sodas because there is no way I'm messing around with the witch's brew. I don't drink from witches I don't know, you know?"

"Yes! Doubles for everyone! Well, for us! Not the rest of them!" Lip exclaimed, mostly glad he seemed to have come across the one person at the bar that didn't want to walk him off the metaphorical plank. He acted like he didn't see it, but he was well aware of the impressions he tended to leave in his wake. "Gonna be honest, I'm easily influenced so I'm definitely selling my soul by the end of the night if the drink is pretty enough."

"Hey- were you wearing that earlier?" He nodded to Lip's outfit, which seemed different from the one he'd gotten a glimpse of earlier. As for the sea of annoyance behind them, Cliff just tuned it out, not minding that he'd been used to skip the line at all. He'd have done the same. "Two of whatever he's having," he said once he'd got the bartender's attention, pointing back at Lip.

"Astute observation, comrade," Lip raised his arms and did a twirl despite the fact that there wasn't quite enough room to actually do one. It was so him of him though, forcing the world to make room. "I couldn't decide and I'd hate to waste a perfectly good look so... You're welcome." He grinned when Cliff allowed him to pick their drinks, to which they ended up with the most ridiculous looking fish bowls and the bartender giving him a fake phone number that he didn't seem to catch on to. "Happy Pride to me," he smirked. "If you don't hear from me for three days don't worry, I'm just seeing a lot of action in my imminent future."

Cecily managed to duck when she registered the ball coming their way, though Lip's reflexes weren't nearly as quick. The blood didn't bother her, but his reaction was enough to provoke a sense of urgency as she looked through her bag for a napkin or even a loose receipt that could remedy the situation. "Lean back," she told him, demonstrating by leaning her own head back, then stretched out the sleeve of her hoodie to dab at his nose. "Teeth all look in tact to me..." She inspected each side of his face, the worst of the damage likely a bruised ego. "Nurse, I think he's gonna make it."

Unlike Cecily, who was clearly more perceptive, Lip was the type to sit up and look around when he heard the command to duck. Still, he didn't think they were in anyone's firing line so whoever had hit him might have been a match for him in hopelessness. "Were they hot?" he mumbled, wiping at the tears that had clouded his eyes in his pain. "Don't look too enamoured with me they might get the wrong idea. I can't afford to miss a premium meet cute opportunity..." In his attempt to take a peek to see if an athletic guy was coming over in slow motion to check on him he realised what Cecily was cleaning his face up with and fell flat on his back to get away. "What are you doing!?"

"It's not bad, per say. Oh my god." Victoire let the guy she knew to be Lip, know. They'd never really met, but she knew about the guy. "I'm so so so sorry." The blonde told Lip, a soft sigh leaving her lips. How did a friendly game of volleyball with her teammates result in injuring someone? Well, if you knew how competitive the girls were, then it'd make sense.

"Lucky?!" Lip's eyes widened as he whined, "You've permanently disfigured me and you're calling that luck? The only lucky part here is that my parents know a great surgeon-" he hadn't even needed help with a distraction, not with the way he could talk himself in circles. Still, he knew the girlie in front of him was the one he was competing with for Cliff's attention so yeah, maybe he was being a big baby because of it.

It was no secret January Dreams seldom left their bubble but when they did, Vienna preferred the less trafficked hours of the early morning or late evening. The girls rarely woke up any earlier than ten though, and so she found herself taking advantage of the strange hours at Trax. She'd clocked the guy watching her but ignored him, up until he practically got in her face. "The last one. Can't go out in the day time or I'll melt," she answered shortly, pushing past him to get to the sale bin he'd just pointed out.

Obviously he knew who Vienna was, he didn't live under a rock. He also didn't like what fame and notoriety tended to make people so he treated Rosewood's plethora of starlets just the same as he would anybody else. "Fair call. Nothing interesting ever happens in the day time anyway." Unperturbed by her pushing past him he used the momentum to spin on his heel. "I heard one of the staff say they had a donation from a deceased estate so there's probably some gems in there. Looking for anything specific? I could help. I'm waiting for my, uh, friend to clock out." By that he meant he was waiting for Leland because time with him without Genevieve around was hard to come by, hence the fact he was hanging out at the store close to midnight and trying not to reek of desperation.