#elliepatrick

Chase scooped up a cat in his arms and pulled a box of sangria out of the refrigerator. He put the box down on the counter as he slung the cat over his shoulder and moved to a cupboard. "Four glasses? Everyone drinkin' tonight?"

Caspar sat with his legs pulled up on the couch. He finished writing down something in the notebook in his lap when he heard Chase. "Yes, please." He called back. "If it's wine, that is." 

"I'm down," Ellie replied. "What are we doing tonight anyway? Just getting drunk?"

Jesse headed over to help Chase pour the drinks. "It's sangria," he called back to Casper, starting to fill the cups up and line them up along the counter. "And I think so. Is Ko coming?" he asked Chase. "I can pull another glass out."

"Uh, we don't have to just drink, and yeah, duh Ko's coming. I was thinking that we could play some sort of game." Chase grinned and put Killer down on the counter next to the box of sangria. "Uh, oh yeah, pull two out."

Jesse brightened up more and pulled two glasses out. "Renee's coming?"

Chase picked up the cat again so that he could focus on it instead of Jesse. "Ah, no. Patrick is."

"Patrick?" Ellie questioned.

Caspar shut his notebook and sighed when he heard who was coming. He uncurled his legs and stood up. Walking into the kitchen, he stood in wait for the sangria. "You invited him?" He asked Chase.

Jesse closed his eyes and sighed. "Great."

Chase looked up from Killer and pressed his lips together. "Yeah?" he said to Caspar, then raised an eyebrow in Ellie's direction. "Uh, remember the brother of ours I said was back not too long ago, well I invited him over."

"Oh, cool?" Ellie replied and then looked around at everyone else. "Oh, bad?"

“Yeah, bad.” Jesse handed a glass to Casper and then headed over to give one to Ellie.

Caspar took the glass when Jesse handed his over. He let his eyes drift over to Ellie and widened his eyes before taking a big drink. 

Chase sighed and shook his head. "No, not bad." He put the cat down and picked up a glass so that he could pour himself a drink. He downed half of it and left the kitchen to take a seat next to Ellie.

Jesse picked up the Killer that Chase put down and walked back into the kitchen to lean against the counter by Casper. He took his own glass and shrugged at Cas like, too late to do anything now.

Ellie was taken aback for a moment that even Jesse said, 'Yeah, bad'. "Ooh," she just said before drinking about half her glass right off the bat, knowing she'll probably need it.

"You should be fine," Caspar finally said to Ellie but drank more of his wine as well. "I don't think he should have any reason to be rude to you." 

Koda pushed the door of the townhouse open, knowing her siblings well enough to have guessed that it would be unlocked. "Helloooooo!" She called, slipping off her shoes and bending down to pet a Killer, before making her way into the living room and waving excitedly. "Hi hi hi!" She excitedly brandished the large bottle of lemon vodka she had brought over. "I come bearing gifts from Renny! She- her words -regrets that she cannot attend and loves you all!" She beamed brightly at her siblings, before plopping down onto the couch and squeezing her way between them. She deposited the bottle in Chase's lap. "How are you guys!" 

Ellie instantly wrapped her arms around Koda. "Finally, you're here!" she said. "You need to save me from this weird and awkward talk about Patrick."

"Tell her I love her too!" Chase said, happy to be on a different subject. He picked up the bottle of lemon vodka and cradled it in his arms. "Way better now that you're here with a ton of liquor."

Jesse hung back in the kitchen but smiled at Koda, his shoulders relaxing. He leaned on the counter that separated the kitchen and living room. “Hey!”

Caspar had lightened up when Koda made her entrance. "Hey," He offered her a wave and a small smile but couldn't totally forget that Pat was to appear soon as well. He remained standing next to Jesse and the counter.

"I'm here! Almost a full house!" Koda returned Ellie's squeeze enthusiastically. "Jess! Cas!" She waved at her younger brothers in the kitchen before tapping Chase. "No more weird awkwardness, not allowed! Now, it's time to do shoooots!" She sang, jumping back to her feet, despite having just sat down. She grabbed Ellie's hand, smiling at her sister. "C'mon!" She glanced around at her brothers. "I know it's early and y'all don't have to but....I think it would be so fun! Or I can mix us drinks if you don't want to drink box wine." At her last comment, Koda turned and stuck her tongue out at Chase. 

"I'm down for shots," Ellie replied. "I think I might need it."

Jesse rubbed the back of his neck and took a sip of his sangria, shrugging at the mention of shots.

Chase laughed. "Weird awkwardness?" He stood and followed his sisters into the kitchen, carrying the vodka with him. "Mixing boxed sangria with hard liquor is my specialty. Let's get drank." He drained the second half of his glass and put the bottle down on the counter. "So, shots. What do we want? Jesse, get out some glasses."

Jesse pulled five different shot glasses down. "What're you having?"

"We should do those lemon drop shots," Ellie suggested. "Since we have the lemon vodka. I think I have some lemons in the fridge."

"Drank," Koda snorted, then clapped her hands, thrilled with Ellie's suggestion. "Yes! Please! Those sound a-ma-zing!" She clapped on each syllable for emphasis, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“What are they?” Jesse asked, still smiling as he watched Koda. “I’m down.”

Caspar rejoined his family in the living room and sat down. "Lemon shots? Sounds ace." He shrugged.

Chase reached around Jesse to open the cupboard and laid out a sixth shot glass. "Should we wait until Trick gets here, or are we just gonna shoot it and have him catch up?" 

Ellie got out the lemons and started to cut them, putting one in front of each glass, sprinkling them with sugar. She downed the rest of her wine in her glass. “He can catch up,” she responded.

"Ugh, Jess, they're only the best tart-sweet shots!" Koda shook her head at Chase, "I'm happy to take a shot with Pat so he doesn't feel alone. I'm happy to take lots of shots in general!"

Chase reached over to ruffle Koda's hair. "Did someone give you sugar today?"

Jesse just smiled and nodded along to Koda, watching Ellie set up the lemons. “Or are you already drunk?” he asked after Chase.

“I wish I was at Koda’s level right now,” Ellie said.

Koda made a face at Chase, but it was quickly replaced with another smile. "Yes, mayyybe, and-" She watched her sister prep the shots. "We can definitely make that happen El!!" 

"I wonder who is gonna have the worst face in reaction to the sour." Caspar managed to smile a bit even though Trick's arrival was still on his mind.

“Probably me,” Jesse laughed, taking his wine glass to go sit on the floor beside the couch.

“Okay, are we ready to test that theory?” Ellie asked, handing out the lemons as she waited for Koda to finish pouring the shots.

Koda did her best to pour the vodka without spilling too much on the counter. She didn't want the Killers to get drunk tonight too. The thought made her giggle as she capped the bottle and accepted a lemon from Ellie. "Okay, everybody take one! What should we cheers to?" She asked their little group, holding her shot in the air already, pinkie out.

Chase grinned at Koda and took his glass. "Cheers to family? To getting trashed? To getting trashed with family?" He took one of the glasses and a lemon slice from Ellie.

Jesse had taken a seat only a couple seconds before but he got back up to take one of the shot glasses. “To getting trashed with family,” he agreed. And Patrick apparently, his mind filled in.

Caspar soon found himself holding a lemon slice and a shot glass, ready for the toast. "Yeah, I'm ready to get completely smashed." 

“Fuck me up,” Ellie said holding the shot glass up.

"Completely smashed, yes!" Koda agreed with Cas, "Cheers!" She quickly downed her shot, then bit her lemon wedge, nose wrinkling at the sour taste.

Jesse took his shot and made a face as well, both at the vodka and the lemon. “Not terrible.” He grinned.

Chase tapped his glass against the others' and then tapped the bottom of his glass against the table before he took the shot and bit the lemon wedge, not pulling a face as he did. "It's really good."

Ellie followed Chase and took the shot, not wincing at the vodka, but her nose crinkled at the lemon after the sugar was sucked clean. “One of my favorite shots, definitely.”

Caspar did his shot next and made a twisted face but only really at the lemon as well. "It's not too bad. It's... creative." He commented. 

Patrick double checked the address Chase texted him with the number on the front door before he walked up the steps. He reached for the doorknob— his brother said it would be unlocked for him— and stepped inside. The entire group was downing shots. "Yo," he said. Patrick closed the door behind him before moving fully into the living room. Only once he was closer did he notice the girl who slapped him on his first day back. He frowned. "What are you doing here?"

Chase grinned and waved at Patrick once he was inside, and scooped up the cat that went hurtling toward the open door. "Hey! This is Ellie, new sib. Or, I guess, just for you."

Ellie looked at Patrick, her jaw practically dropping, and then to Chase and Jesse. "This is Pat?" she then looked back at him. "Oh, bad."

Jesse pressed his lips together to keep from laughing at Ellie’s response and just nodded once, taking a sip of his sangria as he made his way back to sit on the floor by the couch again.

Koda waved at her brother, eyebrow raised at his question. Oh, bad? She mouthed at Chase, confused.

Ellie looked at her brother's again. "This is the dude I smacked," Ellie said. She started walking toward their washer. "Okay, I'm going to go shove myself in the washer, anyone mind pressing start for me?"

Patrick was caught between being pissed and finding this hilarious. In the end her settled on laughing. "Holy shit, of all people. Fuck."

Chase blinked and cradled the cat in his arms like a baby. "Y'all what? Why'd you smack him?" He wasn't sure if he'd rather not know, but the question was already asked.

Koda reached over to pet the Killer Chase was holding. She watched her siblings, waiting to see how it played out. 

"Because I said she had a stick up her ass," Patrick said blandly. "Are we taking shots?"

“Because she’s a good sister,” Jesse mumbled to Caspar.

Koda blinked, recovering quickly, already uncapping the vodka to pour another round. "Shots! Yes! Yes."

"After he flirted with me, and told him I would never do anything with someone who has as big of an ego as him," Ellie said, at the way into the hallway. "And you're my brother. Of fucking course." Ellie walked back into the kitchen and poured herself a big glass of sangria. She then wandered over and sat down next to Jesse.

Jesse smiled at Ellie and put a hand on her shoulder briefly. “That’s kind of funny.”

"And disgusting," Ellie muttered to Jesse, taking a big drink from her glass.

Chase grimaced and put the Killer down so that he could move to take another shot. "Uh, we're doing some lemon somethings."

Patrick snorted. "Please, if that's what you call flirting you need to get out more." He looked to Chase. "Where are the glasses?"

Ellie stuck her middle finger up at Pat.

"Lemon drop shots!" Koda stood on her tip toes, trying to reach for another shot glass to set next to hers. "Little help?" She looked at Chase. 

Jesse almost choked on his sangria when Ellie flipped Patrick off and coughed a couple times.

Chase grimaced again. "Alright y'all, new foot to start off on, alright?" He poked Koda's armpit while she reached for the glasses and placed a glass on the counter in front of Patrick.

"I'll agree, if he agrees to stop being an asshole," Ellie mumbled.

Jesse drained the rest of the glass of sangria and avoided looking at Chase.

Koda recoiled from his poke, squeaking out a "Chase!" as she laughed. "You two play nice," She gestured between Pat and Ellie with the bottle. "If you guys want another shot, gimme your glasses, I'll make 'em!"

Patrick frowned at Ellie, then looked back at Chase. "Sounds good to me," he said.

Chase ran a hand down his face. "Yeah, I'll take a shot," he said to Koda. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. "If I grab a joint would anyone want any?"

Jesse stood back up when Koda spoke. “El, you want one?”

Ellie drank some more sangria when Koda told her to play nice. She looked over at Jesse when he asked her if she wanted another one. "Yeah, sure."

Caspar frowned while listening to his siblings talk but, when Koda offered another shot, he held out his glass. "Sounds like a good idea." He commented, mostly to Chase.

"No joint for me, only shots tonight!" Koda lined up the glasses and quickly filled them, then prepped the lemon wedges for everyone. She waved to get her siblings' attention. "You guys ready?" She passed Patrick his glass with a bright smile before picking up her own.

Jesse picked up two of the glasses and wedges and passed one over to Ellie, taking a seat beside her again. "Yeah."

"I'll smoke," Patrick said with a shrug. He took the glass from Koda and waited for everyone else, looking off to the side than at any of his siblings.

Ellie didn’t say anything about smoking, knowing most of them knew she didn’t smoke. She took the shot from Jesse. “Are we toasting to something again?”

Chase nodded in acknowledgement and held up his glass and a slice of lemon. "Yeah, yeah. Toast to the same thing? Getting wasted with the fam?"

Jesse scratched the top of one of the Killer's heads as they strolled past. "Sure."

"Schwasty!" Koda laughed, already chewing on her lemon wedge like a little heathen. "I like that toast."

"Sounds great," Patrick said, lifting his glass and giving everyone a wry smile.

Ellie lifted her glass without a word and took the shot.

"To us," Caspar shrugged and took the shot and did a little involuntary shudder afterwards.

Koda downed her shot, then popped her lemon wedge back in her mouth. She smiled over at Patrick, surprised he'd joined them but excited nonetheless. The lemon peel covered her teeth, turning her grin yellow.

Patrick tipped the shot back easily and placed the shot glass down with a small suck on his teeth. “So what are we doing, don’t tell me it’s just drinking and wishing I wasn’t here.”

Chase took his shot and shook his head. "I was thinking we could play some games! We can do charades, or, uh... y'all think of something while I go get the joint!" He turned and ran up the stairs to his room.

Koda took the lemon peel out of her mouth, flapping her hand in Chase's direction. "Charades! I call Chase!"

“Can we not do Charades?” Ellie asked. “Last time we played, I accidentally hit Caspar in the face.”

Jesse laughed and put his empty shot glass down. "Oh yeah. Uh, I'm down to play games," he agreed, contributing nothing.

"Poor Cas, oh no!" Koda tapped her chin, a gleam in her eye, "How do you guys feel about....truth or drink?"

Caspar cracked a small smile at the memory Ellie brought up. "That was the last time I played actually," He pointed out and the suggested. "We could just do something they always play at camp wide get-togethers?"

“Truth or drink sounds cool,” Ellie replied.

"Sure," Caspar responded and then looked at Patrick. "Are you down for that?" He questioned.

Patrick raised a brow at Caspar and shrugged. “Works for me. Do we have anything else to drink?”

"There's box sangria and the lemon vodka and-" Koda produced a rainbow flask from the pocket of her overalls and waved it at Patrick. "This too."

Jesse got up to get another glass of sangria. "Works for me," he answered belatedly about the game when he realized he was the only one who hadn't responded.

Chase returned from his room and almost fell down the stairs. "Hey! So charades? I call Koda."

“Nah, we’re playing truth or drink,” Ellie broke the news to Chase.

"Omg, I called you too!" Koda laughed. "They vetoed charades because they know we're too powerful to be on the same team."

Patrick took the flask but didn't drink. "What is it?" he asked Koda.

Koda hummed, "Rum! I'm ninety-nine percent sure. I filled it when I was sober so...probably almost definitely rum!"

Ellie raised her eyebrows at Koda. “You don’t remember what you put in your flask?”

Jesse laughed and put a hand on Koda’s back as he passed her to get the sangria. “You guys mind if I just bring the box into the living room?”

"I'm just kidding," she smiled at Ellie. "It's rum!"

Her offering was enough for him to unscrew the cap of the flask. Patrick tilted it back while she spoke and then smirked at her. "How fucked up are you?"

"Scale of what to what?" Koda's violet hair subtly shifted a few shades closer to blue as she returned her brother's smirk.

Patrick didn't acknowledge Jesse but just moved with Koda into the living room. "How bout... how much of this should I drink for your sake?"

Jesse shrugged and picked up the box when no one replied.

"Bring the box, I'll bring the bottle!" Koda's reply was delayed, as Jesse scooped up the box anyway. She tucked the vodka under her arm and walked with Patrick. "Hm....two?" She squinted, pausing. Her hair shifted a tinge lighter; she patted the front pocket of her overalls. "Two-thirds? I have another one in one of these pockets, I came prepped to share!"

"Always more prepared than I ever will be," Caspar chirped up when Koda came back into the living room. He was amused by how prepped she was, and was smiling more now. He remembered that he also had a glass of sangria and began drinking that as well.

Chase laughed at Koda totally on time and clapped a hand against her back. He picked up his cup and dug between the couch cushions to try to find a lighter. "Okay, who's starting? I can. Ko, who's your least favourite roommate?"

Jesse sat by Ellie again and put the box of sangria down in front of them. "If you want any more," he said to her and nodded his head towards it, then focused on Koda and Chase.

Koda poured some sangria for herself and was about to take a sip when Chase voice his question. She laughed and shook her head. "You were too ready to ask that. And it's easy. My least favorite roommate? This dude with magic marker hair that just, like, ends up on my couch all the time. Comes over uninvited. He's about Jesse's height but uh, gods wow I never noticed, he looks kinda like you!" She pointed at Chase with her cup, laughing a bit before she drank.

Chase reached over to pour himself sangria once he found a lighter and cackled as he took a seat on the floor. "That's fuckin' wild, eh?" He shifted his face to take on more of Koda's features. "I didn't know you lived with anyone like that."

Patrick ended up between Chase and Koda, and glanced back and forth as they talked. He still had Koda's flask in hand and took another gulp of rum. Across from him was Ellie, who he made brief eye contact with before looking away again, leaning back on his hand.

“Wow, I thought we lived with someone like that,” Ellie joked.

Koda accidentally bumped Pat's arm, mumbling an apology as she made herself comfortable on the floor. "Wild! Yeah, worst roommate but I love him." Her face lit up in a smile as freckles that mirrored her own appeared on Chase's face. She squinted, trying to match his forest green hair and laughed at Ellie's joke. "Oh! Is it my turn?" Koda glanced around the circle of her siblings. "Jesse! Would you rather be shrunk down to the size of the Killers for a week? Or have the Killers turn human-sized for a week?"

Jesse's brow furrowed and he rested his chin on his hand as he considered the question. "I think... I'd want them to be human sized. They'd be like, uh, friendly tigers." He nodded as he made up his mind and took another sip of sangria. "Yeah. And it'd make doing things way harder if I was the size of them. Meanwhile, they could sleep on us like weighted blankets."

Chase grinned at Ellie and winked. He put the joint in his mouth and lit it, drew in a breath, and then held it out to Caspar. "I dunno why I was thinking human-shaped Killers." He laughed. "I wouldn't be able to carry them around anymore."

“I mean, we already had a human sized Killer,” Ellie muttered, taking a drink.

Pat thought that was a stupid question and an even stupider answer, but he just rolled his eyes and took another drink.

Caspar enjoyed Jesse's answer and nodded at the mental image of large-sized Killers laying around. He took the joint from Chase when offered and put it to his lips to take a hit. He then processed what Chase said and shook his head and coughed a little on the exhale. "That's frightening. I'm pretending you didn't just say that," He joked and held the joint out to Trick.

Koda blanched at Ellie's joke, quickly picking up her cup and taking a long sip. She took a moment before answering Jesse, a smile already back on her face. "Friendly tigers! Oh my gods, and Soup would be small for once!" She let out a laugh and took another long sip of sangria.

Jesse made a face at the image Chase brought up and shook his head. "Oh god, no. That's horrifying." He laughed. "Um, Ellie. What other cabin would you want to be in, if you could pick?"

Ellie shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe Aphrodite? They’re all pretty cool and I think Mal would be a great sister. I mean, definitely not like Koda, but you know what I mean.”

Chase sipped his drink and watched the joint get passed in front of him. "You'd get a dick brother though."

Jesse smiled at Ellie. "Yeah. I mean, I can't agree with that, but I know what you mean." He shrugged at Chase. "Parker's not that bad."

“Why do you assume it’s Parker? Doesn’t Mal have like 3 brothers?” Ellie laughed.

Patrick took the joint, thought about making a comment about them already having a dick brother, but he held his tongue and just took the hit.(edited)

Jesse shrugged again. "Just figured, since he's the one I had a problem with."

"Good choice, I love Mal! I'm definitely cooler though,” Koda said.

Chase shook his head. "Nah, I was talking about Parker."

“Anyway,” Ellie then looked at Patrick, ready to ask why he was such an asshole as her question, but turned to Caspar instead. “Cas, if you could date anyone at camp, who would it be?”

Patrick exhaled to the ceiling and then handed the joint over to Chase. "What'd Parker do?" he asked just him, quietly.

Chase took the joint and shrugged. "Eh, he was weird with Jesse a few years back, because they were both into the same girl, and then was weird because Jesse was dating his sister. And I've heard he's just kinda... a douche in general? But." He shrugged again as he took a hit of the joint. "I guess he's aight now. Not for me."

Caspar heard the question he was asked and, while looking at Ellie, went to go take a drink but paused before taking a drink so he could say something. "There's too many people at the moment." He smiled and took a drink and then looked at Patrick. "If you were forced to time travel, would you go into the past or the future? And why?" He asked.

Chase coughed as he exhaled and grinned at Caspar. "Damn, dude. Get it."

Caspar laughed and shook his head. "No, no, I just have a lot of crushes." He clarified.

“And to think I told you about Alec, once upon a time,” Ellie feigned offense to Caspar, before taking a drink of her own.

Koda listened to her siblings, quietly drinking her sangria. She chuckled when she heard Cas' answer.

"That's nice?" Jesse said to Caspar, his words coming out more as a question. He laughed at Ellie. "I forgot about that."

“That was so long ago, shit,” Ellie replied. “That crush came and gone though.”

Chase patted Caspar's knee before he held the joint out to him. "That's great. I hope you know we're gonna pester you about it now that you've admitted that." He laughed and shook his head at Ellie. "Gods, you and Alec was eons ago."

"You had a crush on my housemate?" Koda raised an eyebrow at her sister. She shot Chase a sideways glance, grinning.(edited)

“Yeah, when I first got here, and then and Malia basically interrogated me to get more info,” Ellie replied. “At this point, I think Alec also knows I had a crush on them, but we’re just friends, no more crush.”(edited)

Chase made sure to not look at Koda and snapped and pointed at Ellie. "They probably knew just because of the way we all very pointedly tried to make the two of you interact. And by we all, I mean me."

He nodded along to Chase's explanation but didn't make any other comment. Patrick was about to take another drink from the flask before Caspar asked him the question, so he lowered his arm to consider it. People seemed wrapped up in a conversation he only knew a little bit about, though, so he held off. "Who's Alec?"

Chase turned to look at Patrick. "Oh, shit.They're the best. Uh, I'm sure you've met them by now. They work at the cafe with me? They're the one that took your order the other day. Bubbly, bouncy, real cute?"

“Talks like fifteen sentences before taking a breath,” Ellie added.

"Ah." He nodded. "Yeah I remember, them. They talked to me for like half a minute before they took my order."

"They have good opinions on what tastes good coffee drink wise," He commented after Trick.

"They're also my housemate!" Koda added, forgetting she'd already mentioned that. She nudged Patrick's shoulder with her own. "If you ever come by, you can meet them properly! I love Alec so much, they're the most wonderful, sweetest human!"

Jesse finished his next glass of sangria since he had nothing to say about Alec.

Chase bobbed his head at Caspar. "They do!" He smiled at Koda and sipped his sangria, head finally swimming.

Caspar went back to drinking his sangria and then realized something and looked at Pat. "Did you answer?" He asked.

“Sounds like Chase has a crush,” Ellie teased slightly, finishing her glass of sangria

Patrick raised his eyebrows. "Okay, got it, Alec is the best." He made a weird face at Ellie's comment, even though it wasn't directed at him. "And uh," he looked back over to Caspar, "I'd go to the future."

"Why?" Jesse asked when Patrick didn't elaborate, focusing on filling up his glass again so he didn't have to look at him.

"I don't think it's your turn, Jesse?" Patrick asked, smiling as he did so he wouldn't appear as aggressive. "I don't know, I'd rather see what's coming than revisit shit." He shrugged. "You want to go? What's your biggest fear?"

Jesse frowned at him and took a long sip of his sangria instead of answering.

Koda tilted her head, still observing her siblings as she continued to drink her sangria. Her hair was still oscillating through the rainbow as she drank. She made a face at Pat's question to Jesse.

Chase didn't know what to do to alleviate the tension so he gargled his sangria loudly before he swallowed it.

Patrick snorted at Chase's gargling and looked over to Cas. "Pass it?" he asked, gesturing to the joint.

"Chase!" Koda laughed, coughing as she almost choked on her sangria. "You're such a weirdo."

Jesse smiled at Chase's attempt to break the tension, appreciating it. "Uh, Chase. How many crushes do you have right now?"

Chase smiled when his attempt worked, then snorted at the question. "Uh, I dunno, probably like, two? I dunno what counts."

Caspar didn't realize he was hogging the joint and quickly moved to pass it over to Patrick. "Sorry."

Patrick didn't say anything to Cas as he took the joint and put it to his lips. He raised a brow at Chase while he inhaled. "I would think it's pretty straightforward."

“I mean, a crush is a crush, you don’t have to be like in love with them or anything,” Ellie replied.

Jesse shrugged. “He still answered the question.”

Chase shook his head. “I just mean, like, are we talking about people we wanna like, bone? Or someone...” He shook his head. “Actually, I think I got it.” He shrugged and pointed at Ellie. “What’s your biggest pet peeve?”

Ellie shrugged. “Probably when people think that I’m something I’m not,” she replied.

Jesse swished the sangria around in his glass, amused by how it moved. He looked up when he realized he had been staring at it for too long. “Makes sense,” he replied, at a lack for anything else to say.

Ellie then looked at Pat, taking a drink from her glass. “Pat, why did you decide to wait until now to come back?” she asked.

Chase held his hand out for the joint.

Koda poured herself more sangria.

Caspar waited patiently and then took the bottle from Koda after she was done so he could pour himself more sangria as well.

Patrick squinted at Ellie. He held his hand out so Chase could take the joint, then sat back, leaning on his hand again. "Because I thought all the people who left weren't allowed back. Figured everyone hated us."

Chase took the joint and inhaled, then nodded. “They did,” he said as he exhaled.

“They did,” Jesse said at the same time as Chase, then blinked and took a sip of his sangria.

Patrick looked over to Chase and smirked. “And you stuck around anyway? Fucking gutsy.”

Chase took another drag instead of responding and shrugged one shoulder before he held the joint out for Caspar.

“It was wild,” Ellie replied, remembering back to her first camp party.

“Yeah?” Pat asked. For some reason the subject was making him mad, but he wanted to know more all the same. “Koda, how’d your feel when you’re favorite brother dipped?”

It took Koda a second to realize she’d been addressed; she was petting a cat that had wandered over to her lap. “I don’t have a favorite brother!” She took a drink and shrugged. “Well...I left before he did but...I was definitely, um, worried.”

Chase drank more of his sangria and pulled out his phone so that he wouldn’t have to engage.

Caspar took the joint totally on time.(edited)

Jesse frowned at Patrick but just took another sip.

Caspar took a hit and coughed and then held what remained back out to Pat but didnt really make eye contact with him.

Patrick considered this. “Hm. Yeah.” His voice was casual but his eyes were burning. “I told those two they shouldn’t have come when I saw them there. I was only leaving to get back to Cali but they were weird about letting us out of their sight. Did you know we were all supposed to come back to camp together?”

Ellie started to drink more of her glass even though she was definitely already feeling it.

Jesse pressed his lips together and looked away from Patrick.

Koda tilted her head, noting Patrick’s expression and everyone else’s silence. “You...wait, wait, what?” She turned to look at Jesse and Chase, brow furrowed.

Chase finished his drink and looked up from his phone. "Yeah." He put his phone in his pocket again. "What was your question, Ko?"

“Yep,” Patrick said, popping the P slightly. He took another swing of the flask. “I was like, five minutes late. Guess they were in a rush. But yeah, it’s your turn.”

Ellie finished her glass, biting back words, as Pat started to annoy her with his comments.

Koda opened her mouth and closed it a few times, looking like a fish. She stared at her brothers in surprise. “Uh...I? Hang on.” She chugged the rest of her mostly full cup, deciding not to pursue the topic right now. “Cas!” She hiccuped and pointed at him, putting on the most cheerful smile she could and ramping up her own enthusiasm to divert from Pat’s downer of a question. “If you could have any powers at all, what would they be! And why!”

Cas rubbed his arm and flinched a bit when his name was called. He forced a smile as well for Koda. "Um, I guess I would choose to be able to know anything about something from just touching it..." He shrugged. "Like it's past and stuff. I think it'd be helpful and really neat to get to learn stuff that way... I wish I could remember what the power's called, but yeah. That one." Cas explained.

Jesse relaxed slightly as the topic changed. “Psychometry, I think,” he said to Caspar, smiling a bit. “That’s cool.”

"Yeah, that's it," He commented back, with a little point at his brother. "Were you the one who told me about it?" Caspar quirked his head in question to Jesse and then doubled back. "That was not my question, by the way."

Jesse laughed and rubbed the side of his neck. “Uh, I think so. Maybe? I remember we were talking about superpowers a while ago, so it’d make sense.”

Chase laughed quietly. "Cheating, Cas." He smirked and reached over to pour himself another drink. "Fuckin... that's a cool power though."

“Psychometry is sooo cool! I love that!” She smiled at Caspar then started patting the pockets of her overalls to find her other flask.

Pat didn’t say anything but held his hand out for the joint.

"That sounds so cool," Ellie said.

Caspar handed the joint over and mentally scolded himself for hogging it again. "Um," He looked at Chase next. "My actual question is for you. Where is a place you feel drawn to, like a country, city, or, um, whatever? And want to visit if you could?" He asked. "Bonus points if it's somewhere you've never been before, and even more bonus points if it's a fictional place." He added.

Chase touched his lower lip in thought. “I actually had it where a place I would dream of ended up being a real place. Kind of. And that was really cool.” He tried to force his eyes to focus and dropped his hand as he smiled. “Okay, but I really need those extra bonus points so uh... Have y’ever played Bioshock? I love the way shit like that looks. Like, I wouldn’t want to be in the whole post-apocalyptic robot sort of jam, but if we’re going purely off looks, I want to be in a floating city.”

Jesse finished his next glass but put it down on the ground instead of pouring more to take a moment. “A floating city... that’s so cool.”

“Like Laputa! Oh my gods, have y’all see that movie?” Koda squinted, remembering the name. “Castle in the sky!”

Cas shook his head after listening to Chase's answer. "I've seen you and other people play it though. I like the idea, wasn't it... Sunk eventually, though? Or am I just thinking of Atlantis?"

"I think you're thinking of Atlantis," Ellie replied.

Patrick took a hit and passed the joint to Chase. “Definitely Atlantis.”

“Oh my gods, I want to go to Atlantis!” Koda chimed in, her hair shifting to white as she thought of heroine of the movie.

Jesse couldn’t think of a worse place to be than an underwater city so he just nodded along silently, smiling.

Caspar smiled despite being wrong and shrugged. "So many floating cities, only so much time."

"The thought of being in Atlantis is horrifying," Ellie replied.

“How!” Koda laughed. “An underwater paradise!!”

"It is horrifying," Jesse sighed, though he was still smiling.

"Water is horrifying," Ellie replied.

Jesse nodded along.

“As a beach baby, I am personally offended. Water is amazing!” Koda stuck her tongue out at her siblings.

"I like to personally disagree," Ellie replied, sticking her tongue back.

Jesse laughed and looked between the two of them, head swimming. "It has its moments. I like sailing," he commented, half to himself.

Chase laughed. “Yeah, I’m more about the floating cities than the sinking ones.” He took the joint and motioned in the air as he looked around the room. “Jess. What d’y’think everyone’s worst habit is?”

"I think... I'm going to be very drunk by the end of this." Jesse filled up his glass again and took a sip.

“Yay! Join me!” Koda raised her cup at Jesse.

Patrick snorted. “You can skip me, Jess,” he said. “If that makes it easier.”

Chase took a hit from the joint, sipped his drink, and then exhaled. “Nah, we’re just getting Jesse trashed tonight.”

“I love this plan!” Koda said.

"Makes it harder." Jesse focused on Koda. "Okay, uh. What's the best thing about not living with us anymore?"

Patrick laughed. “Fuck you.” He took another drink from the flask. “Someone give me sangria so I don’t drink all of Ko’s rum.”

Chase held his cup out to Patrick and held the joint out to Caspar.

“Oh my gods, the best thing is not being woken up by the sound of you and Chase snoring.” Koda giggled. “But I really miss living with all of you!”

Jesse laughed and ducked his head. “At least we’re close now.”

Patrick took Chase’s cup and downed it, his head starting to buzz.

"I mean, technically you've never lived with me," Ellie replied.

Caspar took the joint. "Koda's great to live with." He told Ellie.

“Fair but I still wish I did! I even-“ Koda hiccuped then laughed, answering Ellie. “I even miss being head counselor. I’m so happy I can walk to visit you now!” She smiled at her brother’s comment. “Aw Cas!”(edited)

Chase scoffed. “I don’t snore!” He exhaled a laugh. “I think my favorite thing was never being head counselor, didn’t have to go to any of those meetings.”

“You do too!” Koda jutted her finger at Chase. “Very loudly!” She laughed and shook her head. “Those meetings weren’t all bad. I mostly made faces at Hazel while Chiron lectured us on our responsibilities. I turned his tail blue one time too.” She raised a finger and clarified, “Accidentally.”

Jesse smiled. “I only went to two meetings and both were... eventful.”

"I mean, granted they were after pretty eventful times," Ellie pointed out to Jesse.

Koda took a sip of sangria. “I went to a few crazy ones too but...I definitely also slept through few. We used to have them constantly. Being head counselor at age nine was weeeird.”

Chase shook his head and made a face at Koda, then flopped over a bit so that he could rest his head on Caspar’s knee. “Once me and Koda turned Chiron into a zebra and got stable duties for a week.”

"Damn, I wish I had a picture of that,” Ellie replied.

Koda snorted, smiling over at Chase. “Oh my gods! He was so mad. It took a while to wear off too, it was great.”

Patrick laughed at that. “Damn,” he said at the same time as Ellie.

“Oh! It’s my turn!” Koda’s hair turned bright yellow. She turned to face Patrick, her head buzzing. “Okay, okay! Trick! What is something you missed about camp when you were away? Or something you’re looking forward to, now that you’re back!”

Caspar let Chase rest against him and he looked down, not too intrigued with hearing Pat's answer. "Can you temporarily change my hair to zebra print while we're all together?" Caspar questioned with a smile.

"Oh my gods, absolutely," Chase said as he tilted his head to look up at Caspar. "Right now? I bet it'd look sick."

“Uh,” Patrick started blandly as he swallowed the rest of the sangria. “I don’t fucking know. Free housing? Even though I had no fucking privacy. And I’m paying rent now so I don’t even get that anymore. I guess it’s nice not worrying about a monster trying to jump me anymore.”

Koda pressed her lips together and squinted at Jesse. Her hair had shifted again, thus time to a fiery orange. She skated right past the mention of rent. “Not worrying about monster attacks is a huge relief! Did you encounter a lot while you were away?”

At the mention of monster attacks, Ellie filled her glass with sangria more.

"Yeah, right now," Caspar responded. "It'll be a reminder of that time and also I just want to look like a zebra." He shrugged, realizing he was feeling the alcohol by now.

Jesse blinked at Koda, unsure why she was looking at him like that, and took another sip of his drink.

Chase laughed, only half-listening to Patrick's answer, and changed Caspar's hair. "I've done polka dots before. I like the stripey look more though, I think. It works for you, since you already have the white."

Patrick didn’t look at Koda while he answered. “One question at a time.”

In an attempt to change subjects. “I think it’s your turn to ask,” she said looking at Pat.

Koda rolled her eyes but she was still smiling. “Fine, fine. Next time!” She sang, then pulled her other flask out of her pocket and took a sip. “Your hair looks great Cas!”

Caspar smiled more as he figured his hair had been changed. "That's what I was thinking," He replied and then looked over at Koda. "Hey, thanks, Ko'," He looked back at Chase. "And thanks to you too." He then messed with his hair to make sure not a bunch of it was sticking up as to not ruin the illusion.

Rolling his eyes, Pat switched back to Koda’s flask, but he didn’t drink. “Caspar, “ he said. “I feel like all I saw you do back in the day was like, cry and watch clouds and cuddle with your weird friend, what do you like to do for fun?”

Ellie drank some more sangria when Pat spoke, trying to keep from saying anything.

Jesse frowned again and mumbled something into his drink.

Koda raised an eyebrow. Her hair turned red, then pink, then red again.

Chase gave Caspar two thumbs up and lifted his head. He looked around for the joint or his drink and then just swayed from side to side a bit as he waited for Caspar to answer.

Caspar realized he was out of sangria but didn't really feel to need to evade this question. "Uh, I go to university in the city now. Not all the assignments are fun, but it's art and I like the campus," He responded. "Um, write poetry, astrology stuff, spend time at the beach?" He shrugged. "I still cuddle and watch clouds and hang out with Abel at times too," He added and then glanced around. "Is there any wine left?" He asked to anyone.(edited)

Jesse picked up the box (now far lighter than before) and held it out to Caspar. "Here." He smiled at him. "And that all sounds cool."

Pat nodded along to Caspar's answer, looking halfway interested. "Cool," he all he said, and held his hand out yet again for the joint.

“Cas is a really talented artist!” Koda waved her flask excitedly, addressing no one in particular. She blinked at Abel’s name, turning to Pat. “Abel’s one of my other housemates! I love them!”

“Ohh.” Jesse nodded as he understood belatedly. “I thought he was talking about Tai.”

“There’s no need to talk about me like I’m not in the room, Jesse,” Patrick said without looking at him.

Jesse shrugged. “I was talking to Koda.”

"I love Tai too!" She smiled at Jesse, then glanced at Pat, taking another swig from her flask. "Yeah, it's okay, he was talking to me!" Koda was quiet for a moment, then her eyes widened and her hair turned pink again. "Does anyone want to do another shot with me!"

Caspar gave the joint to Pat before moving to take the box. He filled his glass and then put the sangria down somewhere nearby so others could get at what was left as well. He felt relieved by how short Pat's reply was and offered a thankful smile over at Koda, only to snicker at her offer. "I'll do another," He agreed and shifted his eyes over to Ellie. "It'll give Ellie some time to answer my question for her," He said to get his sister's attention. "If you were stranded on a island with only three other people, who would you pick to be stuck there with you if you could choose? They can't be in the room, though." Caspar clarified.

Ellie scrunched her face up slightly in thought. “Uh, Rory, Tai, and uh,” Ellie tried to think of another person. At first she thought about Ben, or maybe Ariana, but instead she took a drink. “That’s it.” She shrugged. "Oh, maybe Zoe," Ellie added. "But it would be less fun, because knowing Zoe, she'd figure out how to get home with her hydrokinesis.

Beaming at Cas' response, Koda jumped up from the floor and dashed into the kitchen. She quickly prepped two more lemon drops, listening to her siblings continue to play their game in the other room. "Zoe would!" She laughed at Ellie's answer. "Oh my gods, I'd bring Tai with me too. We could workout together and get really extra buff while we're stranded." She snorted, heading back into the living room. She passed Cas the shot she'd made for him, lemon wedge balancing on top of the glass to make transporting it easier.

Patrick was still pissed from the I was talking to Koda comment but just took an extra long hit to make himself cool off. Even so, he was steaming a bit and silent while people gushed about campers he didn't know well or didn't like. He passed the joint to Chase.

By now, Ellie was pretty drunk, and the presence of Pat and his passive aggressive comments made her annoyed and she finally stopped holding back as it was her turn. "Patrick, why did you even come if you were only going to be an asshole?"

Chase snapped out of his momentary stupor and took the joint. He took a long hit, coughed, and shook his head at Ellie.

"Ellie!" Koda was glad she hadn't taken her shot yet, positive it would've come out her nose at her sister's remark. She looked between Pat and Ellie, eyes wide.

"What?" Ellie asked when Chase shook his head. "Want me to play nice while these two," she pointed in between Pat and Jesse. "Are making cheep blows at each other?  And he's playing victim while he goes for low blows at you, and Jesse, and Cas."

Chase ran a hand through his hair and frowned. “Y’all are acting like children.”

He wasn't expecting to be asked a question, and definitely wasn't expecting that. His nostrils flared in anger. "I walked through the door and you said 'oh, bad," he snapped, mimicking Ellie's voice when he quoted her. "Look, we had a misunderstanding, I'm willing to move past it, but you made up your mind about me as soon as I got here. You need me to be the asshole, so here I am."

Jesse chewed the inside of his cheek and put his glass down, looking in between Patrick and Ellie.

"Probably because I believe someone shouldn't treat another that way, or probably because you've been an asshole all night to my brothers," Ellie replied. "Oh sorry, didn't know I was the only one in the wrong here."

Chase frowned more. “Both of you are being assholes. And Ellie, that’s another one of your brothers, aight?” He shook his head. “Are y’all making snide comments at each other?” He looked at Jesse and Patrick.

Caspar frowned deeply at Ellie and Patrick. "Pat isn't even being bad tonight." He said, but regretted speaking up.

"Oh my god, Chase, don't try to—" Patrick ran a hand down his face when Caspar spoke up. He laughed darkly. "Wow, thanks Cas, that means a lot."

"Guys!" Koda held up her hand to back her sibling up. She frowned, brows drawn together. "Chase is right. We're all family. Sure," she gestured between Pat and Ellie, "You two had a rough first start, but start over. Y'all don't need to get along perfectly but, cut it out." She glanced over at Jesse, then back to Pat as he spoke.

Jesse pressed two fingers to his temple. "Sure," he said without knowing who he was agreeing with.

"One of my brothers? He has been nothing but an ass all night, and apparently this isn't bad. Family doesn't act like that to family," Ellie said. While she was at it, she couldn't stop. "Hell, you don't act like that to anyone, and sorry but I'm not just going to ignore it. I don't do passive aggressive, sly comments, it just makes you look like a bad person, and honestly, a little cowardly."

Chase took another hit and then put the joint out, laughing quietly as he exhaled, leaning his head back fully. “Oh my fucking gods.”

Koda sucked in a breath, staring at her sister. "Oh my gods, " she groaned at the same time Chase spoke.

Patrick snorted and looked to Chase. "I'm not the only one anymore, then, huh?"

Jesse frowned and put a hand on Ellie’s back.

Chase opened an eye to look at Patrick. “Only one?”

Koda drank, then fixed her attention on Pat, not understanding his question. The color was leeching out of her hair, turning it black subconciously.

"What does that mean?" Caspar questioned Patrick and Chase with cheeks flushed pink and stitched together brows.

Ellie was tense up until Jesse put a hand on her back, she calmed slightly, suddenly feeling bad as she looked around at the rest of her siblings. "What the fuck does that mean?"

Patrick shrugged, a smirk growing over his face. He stared up at the ceiling as he started to explain. "I used to be the only one saying that we weren't automatically family just because we shared a godly parent. Kind of a big reason why everyone started to hate me." He brought his gaze back to Ellie. "Fair enough, though, no matter what the rest of them think of you for it."

Ellie groaned, but she was calmer than before. "Please, newsflash Patrick, it was probably because you were an ass. And everyone doesn't hate you. Get off your high horse. I've heard a lot of good things about you, not everyone hates you."

Koda sighed, illusion of a fun family game night effectively shattered. "Ellie, you're not helping. At all. You're both capable of being assholes." She took a swig from her flask, her shot glass forgotten on the floor beside her. She turned her attention from her sister to Patrick. "We don't all hate Pat, that's true. And we don't all have to get along just because we're related. It would be nice, but-" she shrugged, looking to Chase for backup

Jesse lifted one hand. “I kinda do.”

Koda just stared at her younger brother, her mouth open, though no words came out. She looked at Chase again, more pointedly this time. Her eyes said would you help me out here?

Chase laughed again and kicked the table as he stood up. “Y’all know what? I’m really fuckin’ sorry that I organized this. Truly.” He shook his head and walked around his circle of siblings so that he could get to the stairs. “Just, fuckin’ duke it out here or whatever.”

"Patrick hasn't always been the nicest, but I don't expect to see it from you Ellie," Cas commented, frowning and then shook his head at Chase. "What? No, stop, don't joke like that."

Patrick watched Chase walk away, then looked back at Jesse with a wry smile. "Nice job, Jess."

Ellie put her hands over her face when Chase spoke, and let out a soft groan when Caspar made his comment. "Fuck," she said. Every part of her told her to keep everything else in. So she bottled everything up again. "Sorry, I ruined everything. I was an asshole, that I know." She knew she took it too far. "I'll agree to play nice, if Patrick does too." Ellie looked to Patrick, swallowing her own pride. "Are we good?"

Jesse ran a hand through his hair, unsure why he said that. He pushed himself up to his feet to go after Chase, ignoring Patrick. “Hey, wait.”

Koda stood, moving to follow Chase. Her head whipped around so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash at Patrick's jibe. "You-" She jutted a finger in his direction. "Stop instigating! All y'all, just stop. Ellie, you didn't ruin everything, please." She shook her head, turning back to Jesse as he joined her next to Chase. "Jess, that was shitty. Chase, hey."

As the circle went from six to three, Patrick leaned over to grab the box of sangria and refill his cup. "I don't know, Ellie, are we?"

Jesse rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry,” he said to both of them, shaking his head. “I’m not gonna do that again. Just- Chase, come back. We can be civil.”

Ellie let out a breath through her nose. She had to for Koda and Chase. "Yes," she said.

Cas looked from Ellie to Pat and then sighed. He took a big gulp of wine.

Koda leaned her head against Jesse's arm, still looking at Chase. "It's okay, everyone gets upset sometimes. Sorry I didn't have your back. I was going more for...crowd control." She glanced over her shoulder, hoping that Pat and Ellie were making up and not tormenting Cas. "Chay, you tried to do a good thing, having us all together." As she looked up at Chase, her hair shifted from black to match his. She reached out to squeeze his arm. "C'mon, come back."

Chase rubbed his forehead and shook his head. “I don’t...” He pulled away from Koda’s grasp. “Honestly, y’all can keep going. I’m tired anyway.” He ran a hand through his hair and glanced back at Caspar before looking at the whole room. “Obviously the duke it out thing was a joke.”

Patrick studied Ellie for a long moment before he nodded. "Yeah, we're good. Wanna take a shot or is the party over?" He glanced back at Chase and grinned at him. "Come on, dude, don't ditch us."

Jesse watched Chase’s expression as he spoke to try and judge how he was feeling, then sighed and nodded.

“Chase, we’re good, please don’t leave. Let’s all take a shot. Please,” Ellie said, her voice basically begging.

Koda dropped her hand, pressing her lips together. She looked up at Chase, but didn’t push him. “Pat, you can take my shot that’s next to you, I’ll make another,” she said without looking back at him, still focused on Jesse and Chase.

Chase ran a hand through his hair again and gave a tight smile. His eyes felt like they were rolling around in his head as he leaned against the banister, but he nodded at Ellie and stepped away from the stairs. “Nah, let’s take shots,” he mumbled, smiling a bit more as he walked into the kitchen. “We’re still goin’ with lemon?” He leaned on the counter and spoke slowly so he’d slur less.

Patrick did as Koda said, taking the shot as he walked back to the counter, wanting some space. Chase joined him a moment later, though, and he mustered up a mostly-bitter smile.

“I’ll cut some more lemons,” Ellie said, she was still angry but since Chase made a comment, she felt bad and was trying her best to now behave.

Koda hung back for a second as Chase walked to the kitchen, waiting with Jesse. She looked up at her brother, giving him a half-smile. "You in for another?"

Jesse ran a hand through his hair and put an arm around Koda's shoulders. "I'm gonna take it easy for now."

"Not a bad idea." She leaned into his side, wrapping her arm around him as well. "I, however, need another shot!" Koda laughed and steered Jesse into the kitchen with her.

Ellie, who probably had a little too much that night, was trying to cut the lemon with the blunt side of the knife. “Why isn’t this cutting?” she complained.

Jesse laughed as he watched Ellie try and cut the lemon. "Try the sharp side?" he suggested.

Ellie looked down at the knife and laughed. “Oh, maybe someone else should cut the lemons,” she replied as she realized.

Jesse let go of Koda and held a hand out. "I can."

Ellie handed the knife to Jesse. “I’ll get the sugar.”

Chase leaned against the counter and crossed his arms.

Caspar watched as Pat took Koda's shot and thought about taking his own but instead just closed his eyes. He immediately felt dizzy so, instead, took another sip and set it down so he could stand. He then quietly left to go to his room. He began to roll up some from his own stash of weed.

Pat studied Chase's face instead of watching the others set up more shots. "You mad?"

Koda joined Chase over at the counter, watching Jesse cup up the lemons. She glanced at Pat as he spoke to Chase.

Ellie set the lemons down near Jesse as he cut them. She watched as Caspar left to his room. She followed him. “Hey, are you okay?” She looked to him rolling the joint, “or are you just rolling another joint?”

Chase shrugged. "I'm drunk."

Caspar looked up from rolling when he heard Ellie. "Just rolling another one for us. I'm okay, though..." He answered. "Are you, uh, good?" Cas asked.

“I just lost it didn’t I, huh?” Ellie replied, she shrugged slightly. “I’ll be fine. Are you mad?”

Pat thought about reminding Chase that could be both mad and drunk— like he often was— but he just nodded once, deciding not to bother right now. "Cool."

Caspar licked and finished closing the joint and sighed. "You didn't lose it, if I was you I would have done the same thing, but I'm not you so I'm sorry if I made you feel shamed for speaking out. It's just..." He sighed. "Pat is so difficult and the way Chase was so ready to bail after setting this all up after it being sort of a surprise. I'm not mad, though. I don't know." He shook his head and stood up.

Koda tipped her head back, staring at the ceiling as her hair oscillated through the rainbow, unable to settle on a color.

Chase half-shut his eyes. "Mhm."

“No you didn’t, I just felt a little bad that I kind of upset everyone, especially Koda and Chase who are really trying to have us all get along,” Ellie replied with a shrug. “I’m worried about Chase, but that’s another conversation for another day. We should probably get back?” she suggested. “Are you taking a shot?”

Jesse stared at the lemons now that they were sliced and wondered what he was supposed to do with them.

Caspar listened to Ellie and then walked over to her with a nod. "Yeah, let's get back," He agreed. "We'll talk together more about it later, if you want," He said and let Ellie lead them back to the living room.

Ellie nodded at Caspar and followed him back out. She looked to Jesse staring at the lemons. “The sugar goes on the lemons bro,” Ellie said, walking over to sprinkle the sugar for Jesse.

Jesse zoned back in after Ellie addressed him. "Hm?"

“For the shots,” Ellie said, the sugar goes on the lemons.

Caspar went and sat back down in the living room. He poured more sangria and realized there was really only a cup left so he looked around, only to pour it in what he thought was Chase or Jesse's nearby cup, figuring they weren't done drinking either.

For once he was uncomfortable with how uncomfortable everyone else was, presumably because of him. Probably because he hadn't intended it. Patrick looked over Chase and moved so he was next to Koda instead, handing her the flask. "I think I drank more than two-thirds," he said.

Chase rubbed one eye. "Who's turn is it? For the game."

"Patrick's." Koda answered, still staring at the ceiling. Realizing Pat had addressed her, she looked over, her eyes two different colors, her hair still shifting." She waved the flask away. "No, no. I don't think I need more. You can finish it if you-" she hiccupped. "If you want."

“Ah.” Jesse nodded as Ellie explained and smiled at her. “Are you good?”

Patrick shrugged. "Let's do shots first," he muttered.

"Shots, yes I can do a shot!" Koda hiccupped again and her eyes changed to the same color. With another hiccup, she had one blue and one gold eye. "Are we all doing one?"

“I’m fine,” Ellie said to Jesse. “I just lost it, I’m cool.” Ellie grabbed some lemons that were finished and started handing them out.

"Cool," Jesse agreed, turning back to sprinkling sugar on the remaining lemons.

Patrick lifted his shot glass to Koda, indicating he was drinking and ready.

Caspar stood up and looked over the counter and into the kitchen at the rest of his siblings. "Hey, I rolled another for us." He said loud enough for them to hear as he moved to get closer as well, joint still in hand (but unlit).

Chase turned when Caspar spoke and smiled at him slowly. "I might stick to that. If I take a shot right now I might end up projectile voming everywhere."

Koda nodded at Pat and accepted a lemon from Ellie. She almost popped it in her mouth to eat but remembered that it was for another shot and giggled to herself.

Caspar gave Chase a nod, then leaned on the counter. He realized everyone had their shots almost ready. "Oh, are we doing the shots in here? Let me go grab mine, it's out here still." He pointed out and spun around to fetch it.

Jesse took a shot as well after a period of deliberation. "This is my last one."

“So, uh, anyone want to toast, or are we just taking this one?”

"Let's just take it," Patrick said, trying to sound as neutral as possible in case anyone decided he was trying to be mean about it.

Caspar came back to the counter again but with his shot this time. "Okay, I'm set."

Ellie held her shot up when Patrick said to just take it. Hit it gently on the counter, and then took it, before sucking on the sugar covered lemon.

Chase hopped up onto the counter and almost fell off, but recovered. He pulled out a lighter to spin in his hands and dropped it. "Hm." He looked down at the ground and then to his siblings, a small, unfocused smile on his face.

Caspar took note from Ellie and proceeded to down his shot. He did an involuntary shiver and frowned with a point. "Someone pass me a lemon."

When Ellie tilted the glass backward, so did Patrick, once again unmoved by the sourness. He didn't bother with his lemon and passed it to Caspar when he asked.

Koda mirrored Ellie's action, knocking back her shot. She sucked on the lemon and smiled at Patrick, swaying on her feet a little. She was feeling all the shots she'd done.

Caspar took the lemon and sucked on it a bit, leaning against the counter again as he was feeling not the most balanced. When he was done with the lemon, he looked at and spoke to Pat. "Do you have a lighter?"

Chase pointed to where his lighter remained on the floor. "There's one there."

Wordlessly, Koda produced another lighter from the pocket of her overalls and held it out to Cas, grinning.

"Nah," Pat said to Cas. While Koda handed her lighter over, he crouched down to retrieve the one that Chase dropped and returned it to his brother. "My turn, right? Ellie," he looked over to her, a small smirk coming to his face. "Don't look so worried. What do you like to do for fun around here?"

Caspar took the lighter from Koda and offered her a smile in return. He put the joint in his mouth and lit it up. He took another hit and held it out for Chase to take.

Ellie looked at Pat, trying to keep calm still. "I'm not worried," she replied. "I don't know, hang around with these weirdos," she pointed to the others. "Have brunch with Tai and Rory. Take runs? Like normal things I guess."

Koda smiled back at Cas as he lit the joint. "Brunch!" She exclaimed, her eyes lighting up. "I love brunch."

Chase took the joint and bobbed his head. He took a long hit and then held out the joint to Patrick.

Patrick made a small, imperceptible face at the mention of Tai, but he nodded and turned his focus to the outstretched joint before it was too obvious. "Cool," he said before he took a hit.

Jesse laughed at Koda's excitement and leaned against her after taking his shot. "Are there people out there who don't?" he asked her.

Ellie looked to Jesse. "Jess," she started. "Would you trade your sibling or best friend for $10 million?"

"No," Jesse answered without needing to think about it. He watched the smoke from the joint rise towards the ceiling. "I don't know what I'd do with ten million dollars."

"People that don't like brunch are crazy." Koda laughed at Ellie's question. "Chase is worth more than ten million anyway."

Patrick thought he could do a lot with ten million dollars, but again didn't want to be taken as saying something pointed in some way, so he held his tongue. He snorted at Koda's comment and handed the joint over to Cas.

"I don't know, I might trade someone for $10 million and they could trade me, and we would both be traded and each have $10 million," Ellie replied.

Caspar took the joint. "$20 million dollars," He pointed out. "I can't even imagine how much money that really is." He commented.

Chase did the shaka hand motion at Koda. "I'm priceless, like... a lollipop stuck to the side of a rat."

Koda snorted at Chase. "What kind of lollipop?"

Chase nodded confidently. "A blue one. The kinda flat ones you get from the doctor's office."

Ellie scrunched her nose. "That's disgusting."

Koda nodded as if Chase's answer made perfect sense. She tapped a finger to her temple and gestured to his. "Yes! That's so you."

Caspar took his hit and held the joint out to Chase again. "Those kinda flat ones always have the weirdest sticks to hold onto," He commented.

Chase bobbed his head and took the joint but didn't take a hit. "Right? I feel like most of them are hollow. The bank has some, but they're green." He held out the joint to Patrick.

Patrick looked amused as he took the joint back. "What's wrong with green?"

Chase shrugged. "Don't taste the same as blue. And doesn't turn your mouth green." He leaned back a bit and rubbed his eye. "Green's aight though."

Koda’s hair turned the brightest blue she could think of. “The blue ones are better,” she grinned at Patrick, nodding sagely.

Ellie shrugged in response to everyone.

Jesse ran a hand through his hair. “Patrick. What’s the drunkest you’ve ever been?”

Patrick raised an eyebrow when Jesse asked him a question, but he figured he was playing nice for Chase. He took a long hit before he answered, letting the high melt over him and keep him civil. "Two years ago," he said, "I dropped out of school and my friends saw me off. Don't remember a thing past eleven pm." He passed the joint to Cas.

Chase laughed and rocked back and forth slightly, his hair changing from green to a dark blue. "Been there."

"I’m there right now," Koda giggled, leaning further against the fridge to steady herself before sliding down to sit on the floor and look up at her siblings. She beamed at Chase's hair color.

Jesse nodded. "Huh," was all he said in response, nothing else to say to Patrick that would still keep it civil.

Chase flashed a smile at Koda and then tilted his head at Patrick. "What were you going to school for?"

"I want to be there right now," Ellie muttered not too loud to hear except for Jesse next to her.

Jesse pressed his lips together and held back a laugh, giving Ellie an amused look.

Caspar took the joint and watched his siblings.

Patrick gave a long sigh, like he was unwilling to talk about it. "Drawing and painting," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and angling his head up a bit.

“Art buddy,” Koda mused quietly from her spot on the floor, then giggled.

He scoffed at Koda, but a small smirk was on his face. "Chase, what's the most high you've ever been?"

Caspar stayed silent, listening, and after he took a hit, he held what was left of the joint to Chase.

Chase nodded at Patrick and took the joint from Caspar. "I feel like half the cabin really caught the whole art bug." He took a small hit from the joint and then held it out to Patrick, speaking as he exhaled. "Uh, from weed?"

Patrick chuckled. “Whatever you want.”

Koda simply smiled at Pat's scoff. She waved at Jesse, as if she'd forgotten he was there, before looking up at Chase. "What did you dooo?"

Jesse waved back at Koda, smiling fully now.

Chase shrugged. "It depends on what you mean by most high, since highs are different, but..." He blinked and furrowed his brow as he tried to think. "Uh, well I've been meth bombed once, so that was fuckin' hell, but I'd say one of the most high I ever was was when I took shrooms once and..." He laughed as he began telling the story and shook his head, looking to Jesse. "I messaged Jess to come find me because I was out in the woods and didn't know where the fuck I was. And then, when he finally found me a fuckin' hour and a half later I was like 'oh fuck, I remember where I am, don't worry man.'" He shook his head again. "I'm sorry, man."

"Meth!" Koda's hair flashed yellow in surprise before shifting back to blue. She saw Jesse wave at her and, forgetting she had waved in the first place, waved again with even more enthusiasm. "I wanna try shrooms! Chay, shrooms!"

Jesse laughed and shook his head as soon as he realized which story this was. "It's okay, it was funny once I wasn't freaking out over you falling in a river or something."

Caspar wondered what being 'meth bombed' was, but figured he'd put it together with context clues. He shook his head and laughed at the actual story. "I hate the taste of shrooms, or I'd do them more often."

"Meth?" Ellie said, mostly mouthing the word and tilting her head slightly at Chase. Sometimes she wondered how she got along with Chase so well when she rarely did any drugs.

Chase smirked at Jesse and nodded and then held up a hand and shook his head at Ellie and Koda. "Okay, yeah, but not on purpose. Shitty dealer for M, part of why I have a drug testing kit now." He hummed and snapped and pointed as he looked at Patrick now. "By the way, I have one of those. If y'ever need it."

Koda nodded her head vigorously. "Testing kit. 'S very smart."

Patrick paused, then nodded. "Good to know," he said.

"Okay." Chase clapped his hands and then rubbed them together. "Who wants a question? Who haven't I asked?"

"Me!" Koda sang, despite having been asked a question by Chase to start the game.

Caspar raised his hand too, but didn't say anything because he was now drinking some sangria again.

Chase pointed at Koda. "You've already had your turn." He turned to Caspar. "Prince Caspian, when's the last time you kissed someone?"

"Boo," Koda pouted, sticking her tongue out at Chase. She perked up, hearing his question and turned her attention to Cas.

Pat kept his head against the wall as it started to feel heavy, but he rolled his gaze over to Cas to hear his answer.

Caspar couldn't help but smile at Chase's question, brought the sangria down from his lips, and shook his head before speaking. "It was last night." He answered with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Last night?" Ellie asked, surprised. "And you didn't tell me?" she feigned a gasp.

Chase laughed and raised his eyebrows. "Shit, yeah?"

Jesse smiled peacefully. "That's nice."

"Yes Cas!" Koda giggled from her spot on the floor. "Get it!"

He shrugged after hearing everyone's reaction. "I don't tell you everything about that kind of stuff." Caspar replied to mostly Ellie, but was still smiling.

Patrick's eyebrows rose at Cas's answer and the rest of his sibling's reactions.

Caspar took a sip of sangria again and then put a hand to his cheek. "I can't tell if I'm hot because I'm drunk or because I just answered that," He commented. "But, um," He glanced around and settled his eyes on Koda. "Uh, ignore science for this question but if you could smash two animals together to make a whole new animal, what two would you choose?" Cas questioned. "And what would you call it?" He quickly added.

"A mouse and a cat," Jesse mumbled to himself thoughtfully then paused. "No, bad idea."

Chase snorted at 'ignore the science for this question'. "How they gonna fuck?" he whispered, mostly to himself.

Koda blinked a few times, needing a moment to comprehend Caspar's question through her drunken haze. She squished her cheeks with her hands, making a funny face as she pondered an answer. "I would pick.....a flamingo and a llama!" She exclaimed, her hair turning a shocking pink. "Llamma body, but pink with flamingo wings. But...I only picked them so I could name it a fllamango." Koda barely got the words out before she burst out in a fit of laughter.

"It's like catdog, but with a flamingo and llama," Ellie said.

Patrick slid down the wall so he was closer to Koda, looking amused at her laugher. "Ko, what the fuck is going on in your head?"

Chase grinned at Koda and laughed at 'fllamango', then laughed harder at Ellie's comment. He pressed a hand to his stomach and leaned back, snorting as he laughed, hair slowly shifting into a more muted version of Koda's.

Caspar laughed too, fully amused by her answer. "The killers better watch out or else we'll have a new mascot."

Koda beamed at Patrick and tilted her head towards him, still laughing. In between giggles, she managed to explain, "Too many vodkas! And pregamed first." Her nose crinkled at she smiled, spotting Chase's hair change. She turned back to Patrick. "I want a fllamango," she loudly whispered.

"Dream one up," Patrick said with a shrug. "Ask Dad."

Her mouth rounded into a very surprised o as she considered this. Koda wondered if she could use the Mist to make a dream creature appear in their kitchen. Or turn something into the creature in her head. She focused on one of the kitchen chairs, thinking of a flamingo-llama hybrid as hard as she could. All that happened was a shift in hue; her siblings now had one incredibly pink chair. Koda quickly looked away, trying to look as unassuming as possible. "Oops," she whispered.

Ellie burst out laughing at the pink chair. "I like it better that way"

Jesse laughed at it too. "I agree. It's an improvement."

Patrick laughed. "Gods." He nudged Koda with his foot. "Make the rest colorful, too."

Chase looked at Koda and grinned widely, wiggling his fingers in her direction. "Y'want some help, Ko?" He changed one of the other chairs to near the same colour, then shifted it slightly to make it a more similar shade.

Koda squinted at one of the other chairs, trying to match what she'd already done. "Yes please!" She smiled at Chase then frowned at the chair as it turned a perfect lemon yellow.  She nudge Pat's shoulder, pointing to one of the uncolored chairs. "What color?"

Pat glanced around at the others in the room, then looked at the chair. "Purple."

"Done!" The chair in question turned the most vibrant shade of violet Koda could think of. So did her hair....and Patrick's. Koda hummed, shifting Pat's hair to a much darker shade of purple. "Suits you better."

Jesse looked away from the chairs to look at Patrick. "It's a nice colour on you," he told him, tone entirely mild.

Ellie hid a small laugh behind her glass of sangria.

He noticed the much brighter color on his head for just a split second before Koda toned it down. He almost couldn't tell that it was still purple. Patrick's instinct was to get annoyed, but Jesse's even tone inspired him to one-up him. "Every color is a nice color on me."

Chase bobbed his head, happy that his brothers were getting along.

Jesse couldn't think of anything to say to that that wouldn't come out either rude or ridiculous, so he conceded and just picked up his old glass of sangria without responding.

Patrick looked back at Koda. "This will fade later, right?" he asked.

"Maybe," she teased. Seeing Patrick's face, Koda quickly amended. "Yeah, it only works if you're in a certain radius of us. Probs when you leave the house."