"ratatouille"

It can only be assumed from Aren’s delay in either response or gesture, that he takes his time assessing whether the male is joking or being serious about his question. It’s not usual for the blonde to be inquired about his motives when offering a drink to someone, let alone that it may be ill-intended in any way, but he supposes it’s justifiable – in this day and age, unfortunately. “Oh, you’re serious!” he blurts out, snapping out of his thoughts “No, you can rest assured, there’s only alcohol in that, but let me ensure you further –” he continued, reaching his hand out to take the glass from the male’s hand so he can sip on the drink himself before handing it over once more “there. perfectly safe.” he adds with a smile, taking the vacant spot next to the make even if it’s a standing one. “Thank you. Apparently, four or five open buttons make a big difference in setting a different tone. I heard that one tonight, these are not my words.” he says, taking a sip of his own drink “So, why are you here all by yourself? You don’t look the wallflower type.”

His left eyebrow arched as soon as he saw the other man’s face looking a little confused. As he tasted the drink on Victor’s hand the young man was sure he wasn’t trying to poison him but in fact he already knew he wasn’t. “— Do you know the story behind the toast?” Vic asked him while lookin into his eyes for a short moment. “— It was born with the Vikings. In their time it was common to poison people by giving them poisoned drinks. So they invented a way to show others their trust and to make new allies. They invented the toast, and everytime they would toast with someone the beer would always fly from one cuo to the other, if the drink was poisoned they both would die with it, so the toast came as a offer of trust and future.” He grinned his soft sexy smile, as usual. Victor raised his glass one more time, hoping for a toast. “— To trust, and to future.” He toasted the man’s drink and took a sip, looking around again. “— And I’m actually here cause even in parties I like to watch ot from a more quiet space, at least for a while. It’s good to learn about everyone and find the right people to go talk to whenever you’re ready.” He nodded and looked at the man again. “— Now tell me, what you like the most about these parties?”

“Whoa whoa whoa wait a date?!” Jamie repeated, his smile getting wider. “Are you serious? That’s great, Vicky! Who is it? Tell me all about him!” It must’ve been longer than Jamie thought since the two of them talked, and that made him a little sad. Still, this party was a great chance for them to catch up.

“— Weird, isn’t? It’s been a while since last time I went on a date but... yeah.” He chuckled lightly yet looking a little confused. “— I’m getting old, Jamie, soon I’ll be around my 40′s and 50′s and I think my days of hooking up with whoever I want is coming to a close, I’m really into findin cool guys for something more than just sex, I guess it’s somethin to try.” He nodded and took a second to just make sure his whole self was relly comfortable with all that. “— But I won’t say his name just yet, you’ll find out who he is soon. For now... just know that your friend here might be finally getting something great to himself.”

‘It was easier to sit back and people watch at an event like this, it was so crowded that everyone was so concerned with who they had and hadn’t spoken too, and the masks making that concept so much harder, that you could escape conversation easily by just slipping amongst the crowds. 

After a long chat with a group of investment bankers, the girl needed a break, and a strong drink - so once she had the latter, she found herself a little nook that she could observe, looking at all the lavish costumes, impressed by the effort that everyone had put into the night that it made her smile. 

It wasn’t until she looked right ahead of her that she realised someone was in her eye-line and she turned on the charm automatically. “I like large parties.. They’re so.. Intimate… And small parties there isn’t any privacy…” she purred at the masked person, quoting her favourite line from Gatsby before taking a long, slow sip of her martini, awaiting a response. 

Seeing Adri around was always a good thing for Victor, they were good friends and had a nice story. As she came closer to him, Vic just kept looking at her with eyes of someone who’s waiting for some weird stuff coming. As she spoke, he grinned. “— The way you say that... sounds like I’m reading about a Tarantino’s movie.” His grin grew larger “—How’s everything? Have you found a rich old man already?”

Jamie’s smile lit up and he threw his arms around the other man’s shoulders, recognizing the voice of his friend. He pulled away giggling and nodding in agreement. “Yeah, I know, the hair is kind of a dead giveaway,” he said with a shrug. “But still, everything’s going great. No one’s bothering me, so no stabbing needed, but I appreciate the offer.” He was teasing, of course, since he was a pacifist, but he still thought it was funny. “How about you? How’s your night going?”

Jamie was in good mood and Victor was glad to see that. He had been dealing with a few problematic situations with some assholes around the place and Victor might be a little serious when saying he would stab someone if he ever sees a guy mocking Jamie. He was quite known to be protective over his friends. “— I’m good. Actually... I just got myself a date for next weekend, so I guess my night is going great! But these drinks they have here... they’re awesome! I might get drunk earlier than I thought!”

marco would’ve recognized that behind anywhere. and outfit. and voice. he was mildly offended at not being recognized – but figured he’d play along, nonetheless. resisting the urge to reveal himself, he tapped on his chest to emphasize his point. “oh yeah. this is like… state of the art material. a punch will feel like a light tap,” he continued in the scratchy tone, though it wasn’t easy. 

Victor wasn’t that big of a nerd, but thanks to his former relationship he knew a lot about all that geek stuff, games, cool apps, superhero movies, he knew a lot about it, that was something he needed to learn so he would live through a conversation between Marco and his nerd friends. “— That’s cool, but vibranium still stronger so that’s a Marvel win.” He replied. Victor took a sip of his drink and looked at the man’s face once again, it was half way covered but that jawline, those lips, and even the fact that that guy had a Batman’s costume, everything literally screamed Marco. So he decided just to play with that. “— You know... my ex boyfriend, he would always tell me that Batman isn’t cool enough. And that Superman was a much better hero to the league.” He nodded. “— He was 100% a superman fan. I bet you two would have some interesting conversations.”

Matt pulled out his wallet to leave a $10 bill under his almost finished bottle before following the man out of the bar and down to his place. “Just because they can’t see us doesn’t mean we have privacy. I’m sure they can use their imaginations once you start moaning,” he said confidently with a playful wink as he closed the door and looked around the place. “Beer would be great! Thank you!”

There were many things coming to Victor’s mind after hearing those words, almost immediatly he was giggling, shaking his head to the sides and just trying to take those words. “━ Once I start what?” He asked with a brow raised, finishing getting a drink ready for himself and pulling a beer out of the mini fridge, walking towards the other man and handing him the beer bottle, getting a little closer and touching his shoulders. “━ So... how do you plan to do that redhead?” Victor smirked, his voice was low and his breathing was calmed. “━ Are you the kind of guy who likes to push people against a wall, tease them and go hard inside, or more of the kind of guy who gives some cuddles and make things slow so you can enjoy more of every second?” His facial expression was a curious one, Victor liked those dirty talks when alone with someone, it was a great way to get two people already imagining good things. “━ I’m quite curious.”

“I sure hope not. I spend enough time in this place. I mean, I’m all for having a few more drinks, but I was thinking somewhere a little more private,” he suggested. Matt tried his best to read the other man’s face, getting the impression that he also didn’t want to spend too long here tonight. 

“━ That sounds like a plan.” He grinned, having his eyes on his glass almost empty. “━ Thankfully, I think I know a nice place.” Victor smirked, eyes focused in the guy’s eyes and lips, he had a great smile and that was getting Victor’s attention a lot. He looked back at his whisky, just drinking the rest of the liquid by once and enjoying the burning sensation a little. “━ C’mon, pal.” He murmured in a low tune and walked away, leaving the bar and just waiting a few steps so the man could follow him. A minute or two later, Victor was already entering his room, a large suite with basicall everything he needed. He walked towards the small bar cart with a few bottles and started making some drinks. “━ Just don’t leave the door opened if you like privacy.” He chuckled. “━ You’re more into beer, right? I got a few too.”

The clock had ticked slowly that night. Extremely so, but eventually, she was off it and had the night to herself. Somewhat. Being around Victor came with relatively no stress. The two didn’t have any expectation of one another besides friendship. They often needed a shoulder to cry on– generally not her, but she never objected because she liked the guy. He was kind and different– and gay. That certainly made a difference. “You sure you haven’t already had a lot,” she questioned, holding onto her still cold beer. Why hadn’t she already cut him off? Anyway, there wasn’t much she could do about that now. “That makes two of us– guys are so much simpler.” Her face scrunched up, slowly realizing that wouldn’t change his predicament. “I mean they usually are… what’s up though?”

Victor was dramatic, everyone already knew that, it wasn’t news to anyone when he was drunk and being a drama queen at some point of the night. “— I have the right to drink as much as I want tonight. I’m a mess, I’m like... do you know that old movie called Disaster Movie? that is basically the craziest shit ever made? Well, that’s my life, mostly my romantic life, but still, the craziest shit ever made!” He would point to his glass almost like he was talking about it and not his own life. “— Being gay isn’t good, specially when you are always as horny as me, I’m like... always into sex, but I don’t have se with everyone cause I’m not a fucking whore!” He shrugged and for a second he looked frozed in the same paranoid position. “— Ok, so... I had sex with my ex-boyfriend. That’s why I’m losing my shit.”