If at first you don't succeed, maybe you're a GD loser

[Anonymous]

Sascha felt like a dumb ass. The sting of defeat was still clear, but he thought he'd survive. That Atara girl was pretty, but she was clearly way too much for him. His head was still spinning as he thought about her dancing too close to him and yikes. He turned red and frantically moved through a small gaggle of candidates who told him off as he accidentally spilled somebody's drink. It mostly flipped onto the floor. He looked over his shoulder to check. There were just a few droplets on the costume. He reached over to a nearby table and handed off a bunch of napkins.

"Sorry! Sorry, gotta go now, sorry." He jostled his way through another gaggle of candidates. The more people between himself and Atara, the better. "Whew." He sagged near another table, plopping down into a chair and just watching the others. Some more people were dancing now. The music was familiar to Sascha and after a moment, he was humming along. After another moment, he was eying the new table's array of refreshments. Various snacks. He gingerly picked some up and dumped it into his other palm. After he had eaten some, he looked again at the table. He knew what he was looking for. More alcohol. It was supposed to take the edge off, right?

"Which of these is alcohol?" he asked the nearest person as he indicated several different types of beverages.

[Anonymous]

Eli liked parties and there were never enough of them at the ATC. He had already drained two beers, danced with a few girls and one guy, and was back at the bar looking for something a little stronger. Hopefully the night would end with him drunk and lucky.

He had cheated on his costume a little, just wearing a tux and his hair all slicked back and called himself Jim Bond. Hey. It worked and he looked good in the tux. A gangly looking kid he had seen dancing earlier with a hot angel was eying the drinks. Reaching over, Eli pointed out the few he knew for sure had booze, "Those should be good my friend. Trying to get some liquid courage? That angel was pretty cute."

[Anonymous]

"Thanks." Without even thinking about it (because if he did, he'd probably chicken out), he grabbed the nearest confirmed alcoholic drink that had been pointed out and he downed it. He nearly choked, he definitely did cough, and after he was able to breathe somewhat like a human again, Sascha turned and actually looked at the person next to him. "Didn't expect that," he croaked, his eyes going watery. His throat would calm down in a minute--for now, he felt almost like he'd sucked that down the wrong pipe.

The other candidate seemed to have been strapped for time or cash--or originality. His costume was just a tux. He could have been anything. He looked like a groom about to get married, although Sascha was pretty sure that wasn't what he was going for. Swallowing, he eyed the other drinks and wondered if he should just start downing everything.

"If you mean, do I plan on talking to her again? No. I couldn't face her again in a million years." He felt his face going red just thinking about it. Maybe he needed more booze. "Does mixing all these make you sick? Like prescription drugs? I kinda just wanna knock myself out. Next best thing to having the ground swallow me up."

[Anonymous]

"Whoa partner!" Eli's eyes widened as he watched the kid drown the glass. He would have been impressed if it wasn't painfully obvious the kid didn't know how to drink, "Slow down. You'll just make yourself sick if you keep that up."

Reaching over, Eli patted the kid's shoulder, "Didn't go very well? Well, that's okay. There are other girls or boys to try here." He glanced down at the glasses, "Oh, no, you can mix them, though it's generally a good idea to not drink too many different types. But that will just result in a hangover." He smiled and snagged one of the drinks for himself, "And give that first drink time to hit your system. You don't know how to drink, do you?"

[Anonymous]

Was he that obvious? He felt like even more of a loser. Sighing, he turned away from the drinks, not bothering to snatch any more. He'd thought it would be faster. He thought he'd take a drink and instantly feel better. He glanced at the other guy as he patted his shoulder. He mustered up a half smile.

"I'm not very good at any of this," he said. As if he needed to clarify. It was all pretty obvious. "I'm hopeless." He watched as the candidate took a drink for himself. He probably knew how to do all of this. Drink, impress people. "Can you believe I'm eighteen? I was always told I looked younger, but it's depressing how I might as well be thirteen. Ten, even."

[Anonymous]

Eli nursed his own drink, pleasantly buzzed from his few beers, "Well, that's okay. It's not like we all don't have to learn somewhere. Man, when I was learning to drink, I got super drunk, right? Threw up all over this amazingly hot girl and woke up the next day in a hallway with my head in a trashcan."

Eli nodded, lifting his glass in a small toast, "True story." He smiled at Sascha, "Just take it easy. Relax and drink slowly. Or try a beer. Those have a lower alcohol content. And impressing people....well, I can't help you there."

[Anonymous]

The guy was right, of course. Everybody had to learn somewhere. But it seemed, well, pathetic that he was choosing to start right now, at this time, at this age. Then again, better now than when he was like forty. Now that'd be really pathetic. At least he had somewhat of a reasoning behind it. He'd been dragged here, for one thing. And before that, well... He didn't need to get into his life before this. There was no point, since that life was gone now.

"I think," Sascha said. "That some people are impossible to impress." He took the guy's advice and grabbed a can of beer. He examined the can for a moment before he bothered opening it. Better this than throwing up all over somebody and waking with his head in a can. The least he could do was follow the wiser man's advice. He felt slightly better though, with whatever he'd drunk earlier with the beer. He felt surprisingly more pleasant. Not so down. "I'm Sascha, by the way! Sorry about not introducing myself earlier. I was too busy trying out that 'drowning my troubles' thing. Guess it didn't work out."

[Anonymous]

"I'm Eli!" Eli held out his hand to the other kid, grinning, "No worries. I've drowned sorrows over girls and guys before. Best way to get over it is find a nice rebound. Girl was probably a stuck up bitch and those are always terrible in bed."

Drowning his drink, Eli set the glass down and picked another one out. It was not often he got to get smashed at the ATC and he was not going to waste it. "Glad to see you cheering up though! It's a party! Parties are for having fun!"

[Anonymous]

Well, Sascha's problems had blown over quite easily. Then again, it wasn't as if he'd been dumped by a long term girlfriend. Just momentarily embarrassed by his own ineptitude. He wasn't going to let it ruin the entire evening for him! They rarely had a chance to just veg out and party, so he was going to grasp onto this. Now that he thought of it, why hadn't he had worse encounters in the past? Probably because he wasn't one to go dancing. Oh well, she was the kind of girl I might change myself for. And that's not good, right? He didn't really know, but he'd felt himself wanting to be somebody else when he was around her. Not exactly a good thing.

Taking Eli's hand, he shook it with a big smile. He was fine now! Nothing a little alcohol couldn't help him with! Hopefully he didn't take this approach with every event like that. Then he might really have a problem! He looked at Eli, agreeing with his party words whole-heartedly, although he didn't quite know what he meant about stuck up bitches being bad in bed. How would one know that? Could you really generalize that sort of thing? What did it say about him? He thought he'd rather not know.

"My thoughts exactly!" Sascha said, raising his beer over his head in a cheers motion. He grinned as he started moving to the music once more, feeling more free and motivated than he had earlier. "Hey, I know this song!" He paused, taking it in before dancing again and singing along with the next chorus bit.

[Anonymous]

"Awesome!" Eli grinned and raised his own glass in a cheers motion as well, "Glad to meet someone else who shares my views on parties." Kid was pretty cute too, Eli had to admit. Though he was a little awkward. Wasn't bad though, just a little childish. Made him feel a little bit of a pervert.

Oh well, he could still look, "Hey, you aren't a bad dancer! Got some rhythm."

[Anonymous]

Sascha laughed. He might have been embarrassed and stopped if he didn't have the alcohol in his system, but as it stood now, he was feeling pretty damn good about tonight. Dancing. Singing. Alcohol. A new friend. Chatter. What was one bump in the road compared to everything else?

"Thank you, Eli! But you don't have to lie to me," he said cheerfully, still dancing and pausing to sing another few lines. He stopped to take another drink of the beer, then smiled, lifting a finger. "First off: I never took a single dancing lesson in my life." He lifted another finger, then used the two fingers to shove some hair out of his eyes. "Second: I think I might be a little drunk. I don't think that helps."

He smiled dreamily, leaning against the table and knocking something down. He wasn't sure what, but it was wet because he heard it splash on the floor. He moved away from the table and knelt down, staring at the mess. He shook his head and looked up at Eli. He hid his smile behind his arm and lowered his head again. "And third, I'm moving like an elephant." He picked up the paper cups that he apparently knocked over, stacking them. He wasn't dead or stone drunk. But he was pretty sure it was having an effect on him.

[Anonymous]

"I am not lying." Eli laughed, "Besides, who said you need to have taken classes to be a good dancer?" The kid wasn't great, but he wasn't that bad either. And it was cute seeing him so wasted after 2 drinks. Eli missed those days. Damn you tolerance. Damn you a lot. He was only just feeling the booze. Where were all the shots when you needed them?

He snagged some paper napkins from the table and leaned down, helping mop up the mess Sascha had made, "Whoa. Alright there big boy. Let's slow down a little." Eli did not want to baby sit a kid all night. He wanted to get wasted and laid, in that order. "Maybe you should drink some water?"

[Anonymous]

"Water sounds like a good idea," he agreed readily. He was such a lightweight. Once he'd helped mop up his own mess with an array of paper napkins, he got to his feet--only wobbling slightly. If he drank anything else, he thought he'd have a bad time of it. A little more dancing, a lot more water, and he'd be just fine.

"Where's the water?" He turned to the table. Why was he still at the table, anyway? He should be mingling. So should Eli. "Why are you here, anyway?" he asked. "At the table, I mean?"

[Anonymous]

Eli made sure a glass of water made its way into Sascha's hand, shaking his head slightly, "Me? Right now I'm taking care of a cute guy. I had been thinking of trying to seduce him, but he got drunk."

Reaching over, Eli ruffled the other boy's hair, "Once I think yer okay, I'll probably go dance some more." Sascha was a nice kid and all, but there was no way Eli was spending this party on the sidelines. He snagged himself another glass and took a long sip, finally starting to feel the effects of the booze. Damn tolerance.

[Anonymous]

Sascha blinked. "Taking care of...?" He averted his gaze and turned red. He's not talking about me, is he? Not for the first time tonight, he felt stupid. How did this keep happening to him, anyway? It's because you're not cool and it shows. He winced at the thought. It was true; if he was cool, he wouldn't be lurking next to the table, half drunk.

"No, no, no," he shook his head, then indicated the dance floor. "I'm fine. Really. I'm fine. You should go. Dance." A crooked smile appeared. "Seduce somebody." Don't let me be the damper on your evening. At least if he was going to be in Loserville, he didn't have to drag concerned parties into it. What was the worst that would happen to him, anyway?

[Anonymous]

Eli felt a little bad when he saw Sascha's reaction to his teasing. He hadn't meant anything bad by it, but it looked like it had come out wrong, "Hey, relax. I wouldn't be here if I didn't want ta." He smiled again, "It's not like you aren't fun to talk to and maybe I'm hoping for a dance."

He mostly just wanted to make sure Sascha wasn't too fucked up and end up puking somewhere or with the wrong people, "'Sides, I have all night to party. And in this tux, I have to beat people out of my bed." He took a long drink from his cup, set it down and grabbed Sascha's arm, tugging him away from the table, "Come on. Let's get back into the fun."