I'm Not a Unicorn (Gray)

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Charlie was a very friendly, outgoing person, and as such, he had many connections in the smallish town of Pilot Ridge and was usually aware of most events going on thanks to his many social media accounts.  As it was New Year's Eve, of course he'd scoped out the many, many parties going on that he could attend until he'd whittled it down to a couple different gatherings in downtown.  He figured he could spend an hour or so at each one before midnight and it would cure his social needs.

He'd already been to one and had just arrived at his second in a large apartment on the top floor of a building near the club district.  He knew several people there and had no trouble breaking the ice and making people laugh with his antics.  Parties did have their downsides, of course - he kept a bottle of hand sanitizer in his pocket just in case he needed it, and tried not to let people get too close to his face, especially since many of them were already wasted.  He'd only had a bottle of hard lemonade himself, and only because he had personally brought it along and didn't let it down and risk having it get contaminated in any way.

His head was buzzing pleasantly by the time it hit eleven, and he was currently laughing and joking around with some new friends he'd made near the center of the room.  When a song that he enjoyed started playing (a girl's song, mind you), he broke into a rather feminine freestyle dance, making ridiculous facial expressions as he did.  He was rewarded with the sound of laughter, which only encouraged him more.

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New Year's Eve was a pretty big deal when it came to parties, followed closely only by graduation night. There were several big get together happening around the small town, he thanked the college student populace for keeping Pilot Ridge from being too much of a drag. He'd had his fair share of invites but had decided to settle down in a venue he was familiar with as he didn't plan to stay in his right mind for any substantial amount of time.

Texts kept rolling in as the new year drew closer, the well wishers were the rarest among his messages there were mostly a lot of pictures and updates from his various 'friends' at other parties. He took a lot of joy in keeping up with the drunken mistakes that were happening around town.

There was a rise of laughter in front of where he sat on the couch, feet propped up on the table lined with shot glasses. He took another drag from the e-cig the guy beside him had offered after going on about how smooth the intake was. There was always someone around with those things, but he'd indulged him and took the offered machine.

He had yet to give it back.

The laughter started again, but louder and he grew a bit excited to think he might be able to witness a mistake here now. Most of the room was on the other side of wasted, and he was approaching that station himself, so it wouldn't surprise him if something video worthy was happening.

He tossed the machine back to the man beside him, "Think I killed the battery," before moving to catch a glimpse of what was happening. He was surprised that the kid did not appear to be /too/ intoxicated, at least his dancing was good and he didn't seem to be so uncoordinated. He snorted a bit in laughter at the guy's expression.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he asked, leaning a bit drunkenly against the person next to him. They seemed to at least know of him as they let him stay there and not shove him away. "You looking for some attention?" It was jab, it always was with him. The guy had caught his attention and as such Gray had to press at him a bit and see if he could /keep/ his attention.

He'd been getting bored with his company anyway, and he seemed capable or providing at least a little attention.

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Charlie was totally in his element. His two favorite things were dancing and making people laugh, and if he could do both at the same time, then that was the perfect situation. There were a lot of booty and hip movements in his dancing, which he thought he pulled off pretty well, but of course still looked silly with the facial expressions he was making. A couple other people – mostly girls – were dancing around too, but he was making the biggest scene, so it was no wonder that he was drawing the largest crowd.

He eventually caught the eye of someone he didn’t recognize as the song started to die down and move onto something else, and Charlie smirked at him. “Having fun!” he replied, speaking loudly to be heard over the music. “Wanna join me?” The guy looked pretty well gone, so the dancer doubted he would be able to do much, if he even wanted to. “Of course I am! And obviously it’s working, because you noticed, didn’t you?”

With a cheeky smile, Charlie sauntered over to the guy, keeping his eye on him as the other people around began to mingle and start talking with one another again. He popped out his hip and rested his hand on it like a diva in a dramatic pose. “Obviously you liked something that you saw,” he quipped with a flirty wink. The guy was pretty cute, but it was impossible to tell if he’d been watching because he thought Charlie was being weird and gay for dancing like he was, or if he was interested in other ways. Either way, of course, the dancer wouldn’t let someone so wasted get near him if he could help it, but it was always fun to flirt anyway.

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Grayson scrunched his nose at the teen's offer, he didn't really like to dance and got tired of it rather quickly. He was fine where he watching the guy be an idiot and didn't care to join him. "No, I think the room only needs one idiot," though there were plenty more around him.

He stumbled as the person he'd been leaning against moved, "Fucker!" he yelled at them over his shoulder and stepped closer to the dancing guy. The crowd had dispersed but he wasn't done messing with him yet. "Aw, if you wanted me to notice you, you could have just come over." Grayson had to brace a hand against his arm, unable to keep balance much in his state.

There was a slight pause after his flirtatious comment where Gray took it in, but soon enough a predatory grin took over his expression. Maybe the kid was only trying to tease him back, but flirtation was a dangerous game when it came to Gray.

"Lemme clue you in on something," he was closer to the teen now, leaning on him for support where his legs were failing him, "If I /did/ see something I liked, you would definitely know. " He laughed a bit, "As in I probably would have told you I wanted to take you to the backroom."

He hadn't been incredibly interested in him at first sight, he wasn't ugly but he was interesting and so far he didn't seem to be thrown off by Grayson's comments, which was... attractive. At least to him. "But I like your style kid. Why haven't I met you before?"

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Charlie smiled brightly at the other boy’s “insult”. He’d been called an idiot more times than he could count, and it didn’t faze him the least bit any more – it was just a word, and it still meant he was getting attention. “That’s fine, I wouldn’t want to have to compete with another one!” he replied with a chuckle.

But, yeesh, this guy seemed like he might have anger issues, or maybe he was just an angry drunk. Did Charlie really want to get involved in something like that? His friends seemed to have moved on for the moment, so he wasn’t sure he had a choice. “I didn’t want specifically you to,” he teased back, grimacing slightly as the other boy touched him. He tried to recover quickly. “I didn’t even see you before you were hollering at me.”

Charlie didn’t know what he was thinking, trying a flirtatious quip with someone so obviously drunk. It wasn’t like he ever went through with his flirtations, given how squeamish he was with getting close to people (especially in this sort of setting). Ah well, it was just for fun… at least, that’s what he thought.

What the other boy said next surprised him a little. Huh, so he was gay. Lucky Charlie! He leaned back slightly as the other guy leaned in, catching a whiff of his unpleasant breath and trying not to make a face. “I would, would I?” he replied, trying not to miss a beat. “Well, I guess my seductive dancing skills need work. I thought for sure I’d made half the room fall in love with me.” He said this all with lighthearted cheer, trying not to get too nervous about the grubby arm leaning onto him. Who knew where this guy had been?

He took out his phone and started fiddling with it, texting back someone that was at another party that he was planning on going to in a while. “Hm? I don’t know, but at least you have now, right?” Charlie puffed out his chest and grinned. “You have the privilege to be in the presence of the legendary Charlie Soh!” As though his name should be familiar to anyone and everyone.

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Grayson grinned, he liked this guy's humor. He could take it and give it right back, mix that with the little bit of self-deprecating and Gray had himself a winner right here. "Oh, it's no competition you're probably the biggest idiot in the room. But you're funny and I like that." He was actually liking him, he may not be at the top of his game considering the certain state (nonexistent) of his sobriety but still, he was enjoying him.

He made a whining noise at his comment, "Whattya mean you didn't want me," he wasn't being too serious he just liked being bratty and messing with people. He grinned when he noticed his grimace, "Am I getting too close?" He leaned in even more to show he didn't really care if it made the guy uncomfortable, and it was probably a bad idea to let Grayson know the things he didn't like.

The look of surprise he got from him, sent a little spark through his system, that look among many others was something he lived for. He wasn't all talk though, very rarely did he ever say something he wasn't perfectly fine with backing up. His head fell back as he laughed loud and full, "Baby you wanna see seduction all you gotta do is ask and I'll show you how it's done."

Grayson reached to pluck the phone from the boy's fingers, "Rude, you're supposed to be talking to me." Gray rolled his eyes at his announcement before snorting, "Like the fucking unicorn?" He laughed again, louder, before grinning at him and speaking in a lower, huskier voice, "You gonna take me to candy mountain, Charlie?"

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Charlie often changed his sense of humor depending on his audience – if they were a younger and more innocent crowd, he was more likely to be silly and make funny faces and light jokes; if it was more like the guy he was talking to now, well, it was obvious his witty, quipped jokes and taunts were what the guy was looking for. “I’ll take that all as a big compliment!” he beamed. “I like being liked.” He couldn’t say if he liked this guy yet, considering how drunk he was, but who knew, maybe he wasn’t so bad.

If he’d get his dirty arms away from him, at least… “I didn’t want you because I didn’t even notice you!” he said with a roll of his eyes. “You were hiding from me.” Charlie didn’t even know where the guy had popped up from, he didn’t recall seeing him earlier. He grimaced even more when the guy leaned in closer, reaching up to push his hand on his chest to keep him away. “Yeah. Personal bubble, man,” he replied, his humor lacking in his voice for just a moment.

Already Charlie was wondering how he might be able to ditch the clingy little koala. It was all fun and games until the guy started really pushing his comfort zone. He wanted nothing more than to pull out his hand sanitizer and dump it on the guy’s face. And arms. And hands. And everywhere. “I thiiiink I’ll pass on that, thanks, baby,” he replied with a wry smile. “Besides, you said you didn’t like dancing anyway.” What better way was there to seduce than that?

He thankfully noticed the guy reaching for his phone at the last minute and managed to pull it out of his reach. No way he wanted his grubby, gross hands on his stuff! “Sorrryyyy~” he sang, putting the device back in his pocket and giving Gray a stare. “Is this better?” At the mention of that damn unicorn, Charlie groaned and rolled his eyes. “Oh my God, really?” he complained. “No, I’m not going to take you to whatever sexual innuendo you think you’re using. Actually, I think it’s about time I head to another party.” Charlie attempted to pry himself away from the guy’s arms, eager to get some personal space again.

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Grayson was typically, well, his quips weren't clever enough to be considered sharp in a way that might lead to a high intelligence, but they certainly cut like a knife times. And with his mind dampened by spirits, they cut as well as a butter knife. A very dull butter knife.

But even if his own remarks weren't up to par, he was enjoying this Charlie's comments just as well. Though Gray was making himself a rather easy target for them. He chuckled again, paying no mind to the guy's obvious distaste for his closeness.

"You seem like the kind of guy who doesn't get compliments often so I'm sure you do," ah there he goes, he was picking up speed now. Grayson flashed him a smile, humor and challenge in his eyes. Grayson waved his hand in dismissal, "Bullshit," he didn't entirely believe that the male /had/ to have noticed him but he wasn't ready to admit that he was easily overlooked either.

Grayson grinned at the loss of humor, after all he was the kind of guy you didn't let know something was affecting you. "Oh~ My bad," he backed off him, hands up in surrender. "What you too good to bump elbows with me?" he quirked a brow, daring him to take the bait and get riled up.

He shrugged his shoulders, "Your loss buckaroo, I could have started your new year with a /bang/." Of couse, he chuckled at his own pun, even if he wasn't drunk he would totally would have laughed. Because that was a /good/ one and no one could tell him otherwise.

"Come on unicorns are cool, you gotta take advantage of something like that!" he snorted and giggled, suddenly very bubbly with laughter at his own joke. He let the male pry away from him before making a whining sound, swaying on his feet. Maybe he had drank more than he thought. "What you don't wanna hang out with me anymore." He tripped over himself slightly, despite the fact that he was trying to stand still. "Help me to a chair at least first, you were my rock man and you abandoned me." Grayson shook his head in disappointment, muttering about traitorous rocks.

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Charlie was trying not to judge the guy too hard, since he could tell he’d obviously had a lot to drink and most people were at least a little different when they were sober versus when they were wasted. For all he knew, this guy could be a bright, cheerful fellow (though he doubted it).

He scowled playfully at the guy’s assumption. “Why would you say that? People compliment me all the time,” he lied. Truth was, people mostly laughed at him more than anything else. But that was okay, that’s what he wanted! As for not noticing him… Charlie just chuckled. This guy was totally full of himself, wasn’t he?

He relaxed visibly once the guy’s hands were off of him, and resisted the urge to pull out his sanitizer and dump it all over himself. He’d try to wait until he was at least alone to do that. “Maybe I am, so what?” he replied with a smirk, trying to hide his anxiety over it. In all honesty it wasn’t because he thought he was better than people, he just thought he was… cleaner… than most people.

The joke that Gray made did get a loud snort of approval from the dancer. “That’s okay, the fireworks will be enough of a bang for me,” he retorted, relaxing and smiling more now that he felt less uncomfortable. The guy was pretty funny, and Charlie liked that much, at least.

Charlie scoffed and waved his hands, unimpressed. “They’re not cool if you’ve heard that joke a million times,” he grumbled. Although he had to admit, unicorns were pretty funny, if nothing else. “Welllll as much as I hate to leave a grabby, clingy drunk, I do have some other friends to meet…” He watched as the stupid guy tripped over himself, and sighed, especially after his complaint. Charlie wondered if the guy had anyone else looking after him, and how he was going to get home in the state he was in. “…. If I get you to a chair, what’ll you do afterwards?” he asked, fidgeting with his phone in his pocket again. “Do you have a ride home later?” Ugh, why was he bothering? Did he really care that much about the safety of some random dumb drunkard?

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Charlie was right about part of his reasoning, Grayson was certainly different when he was sober, but he couldn't be called very bright and cheerful wasn't a qualifier most would apply either. Gray didn't have to be using his power to not believe what the guy was saying, he gave him a disbelieving, unamused look. "Poor Charlie," he said with a sigh and a gentle shake of his head to show his pity for him.

"I get compliments all the time, y'know," he grinned, quirking an eyebrow at him playfully, "but you haven't told me I look good even once!" Grayson laughed, he didn't care honestly, he liked how he looked and he didn't care if he was told that or not, he still thought he was hot as hell.

Grayson laughed, yeah he definitely liked this guy, other than the whole touching thing he hadn't seemed to be put off by anything Grayson had done or said yet. "Nothing," he shrugged again, a smile quirking at the corners of his lips, "I didn't mean to rub my lower class grime all over you. Shall I go get a rag and clean it off for you prissy pants?"

His grin widened at the boy's laugh, glad he had a good enough sense of humor to laugh at his drunken jokes. Though he would have definitely made the same joke while he was sober. "Well, at least, you'll get something for the night since you're being a total prude." Grayson pouted to add effect before continuing on, "I do like fireworks, though...."

"You should appreciate your heritage more then," he stuck his tongue out, still swaying a bit as he did. "I'm not clingy," he protested, moving to try and find something to stabilize himself against. He didn't usually keep the kind of compant that would take care of people when they had drank too much. No they were more likely to record it than anything else.

Grayson shook his head, which was a bad idea considering it made him a little dizzy to do so. "Nah, I was gonna try to drink some more at midnight, but I'll probably j'st walk gonna walk home after the--" he motioned with his hands and made a boom sound to indicate fireworks.

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“Oh yeah?” Charlie replied with a raised eyebrow. He wasn’t sure whether or not he believed the guy, and snorted at his complaint. “I mean, I guess you have a pretty nice face, but I’m not exactly attracted to drunk, stumbling, and horny,” he went on with a teasing smile. Sure… The guy was pretty hot, but Char wasn’t just going to give him the satisfaction of saying it.

He did have a feeling he might like him more when he wasn’t so wasted, though. He was pretty funny, even when smashed. “Oh come on now, I didn’t say anything about class,” he replied with a laugh. Charlie came from only a moderately wealthy family, after all. “That’s okay, I can wash off my own prissy pants, but thanks for the offer.” His eyes sparkled with mirth.

“I am not a prude, I’m just… Cautious,” Charlie replied, lifting his chin. “And classy. I mean, you should at least ask a guy out on a date first before trying to get in his pants.” Although in the dancer’s case, it would probably take about a dozen dates before he would even risk kissing someone. All those germs exchanges… yeeech…..

“You are so clingy,” Charlie laughed. “First you complained to that other guy for leaving you, and now me!” If he was less squeamish, he might’ve offered his arm again to the poor guy, but no way would he do that willingly. “Where are your friends? Maybe you can koala-cling onto them.” Then again, he wasn’t sure what kind of friends this guy probably had, if any, at this party. Charlie wasn’t the type to just ditch his friends, though, and apparently that pity was expanding to include this poor drunk…

“If you want my advice, I think you should not drink anymore, and just go home before you pass out or throw up on someone,” he told the guy (who he realized he still didn’t know his name). “…. Please tell me you live in this apartment complex, otherwise I don’t think you’re going to make it half a block on your own.” Charlie had moved over to a quieter side of the room, removing himself from where he’d been the center of attention as he attempted to persuade this drunk stranger to take care of himself. “… Tell you what, if it’s on the way to my next gig, how about I take you home?” He was planning on leaving soon anyway, so it wouldn’t be going out of his way too much.

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"Yeah," he nodded, "on different things," he said dismissively, "some of them are probably too raunchy for your prude's ears so I'll spare you the details." Usually, he wouldn't turn down an opportunity to brag about his... certain set of skills, but he liked the opportunity to call Charlie a prude again much more. "Thank you," he batted his eyelashes, ignoring the rest of his comment completely.

There was a dramatic sigh, "You didn't have to! I can tell, we're just worlds apart you and I." He snickered. It was mostly for the sake of the joke, but he did imagine there were many things about each of them that were vastly different, that much he could tell. Even if they were in the same drunken, mistake ridden, den of horniness and a desire to end the year with something to regret until the end of the next, he could tell they were very different people.

Despite the similar taste in humor.

"Drat," he snapped his finger, "My evil plan was foiled. I was going to offer to wash your pants and you would take them off and well... you get the idea." He stuck his tongue out goofily, he enjoyed teasing and joking with Charlie. Most of the crowd here was lacking.... in the spark category. "Ah so you're a prude because you're intelligent and not because no one will sleep with. I see, I see. That's a much better reason."

He made a disgusted and offended noise, "Can't you see that I am drunk sir! You should not compare my actions now to when I'm sober!" That was the truth, he hated touching and cuddling and all that kind of stuff with a burning passion when he was sober... well unless it was to annoy someone.Then he was all for it.

"I'm /whining/ because I don't want to fall. If I fall I'm going to go to bed." He stood with legs spread shoulder width apart to keep himself from rocking too much. "They're drunker than I am!" He laughed, "And probably passed out somewhere honestly, bitches." He ended, cursing over his shoulder hoping that wherever they were they could hear him.

"Oh, but I had planned to do both!" he whined dramatically, "Now my night is ruined!" Grayson grinned at the boy's next comment and shook hid head, "Nope! I don't even live downtown," he followed Charlie, his steps unsure and awkward, but his focus was on this guy and he didn't have much attention left for anything else. "That's not how I usually hear that question," he sighed, "but fine, sure." Grayson shrugged, he didn't usually like to stop this early, but he did know he didn't have much more room in him to continue the party and he did like to keep a slight track of his limits.

At least the limit where he passed out and vomited on himself, which was the only limit that really mattered.

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Charlie wasn’t afraid of hearing about raunchy things, he just…. Couldn’t stand to take part in them. Maybe if he found a guy with similar grooming and hygiene habits, but that was next to impossible. “You’re so kind to keep me out of your vulgarity,” he chuckled. He couldn’t help but be curious, though.

They may have been worlds apart in many ways, but cleanliness was the biggest and most problematic in Charlie’s case. “Well, rats, I guess there goes my disguise as passing for a normal peasant,” he laughed at the other boy’s comment. The only thing he thought he really did better than most of the people here was keep his head on straight so he didn’t get into a mess. At the revelation of Gray’s “plan” to wash his pants, Charlie snorted and took a small step back, but he was still laughing. “How incredibly evil!” he declared. “Good thing I wore my chastity belt tonight, to prevent such things from happening!” He ignored the next thing that the drunkard said, half-tempted to get his phone out again and tell his friends about the drunk pervert that he was entertaining.

Charlie gasped dramatically. “You’re drunk? I had no idea, this changes everything.” His voice was laced with sarcasm, but still humorous. He, on the other hand, didn’t like cuddling or touching at all unless it involved disinfectant and no real skin-to-skin contact. “Well, maybe you should go sit down, hm? Your friends seem pretty crummy if they just left you like this.” He didn’t mean to sound rude by saying that, it was just too bad that this guy’s companions didn’t care about him enough to make sure he wasn’t downing too much. Which was why Char felt like it was his responsibility now…

Great, so the guy didn’t live here… Hell, with Charlie’s luck, he probably didn’t live nearby at all, and he was going to have to go wayyy out of his way to get him home safely. But now that he’d offered, how could he just ditch him? “Where do you live?” he asked, glancing towards his phone again. Hopefully he’d have enough time to get this guy home and get back to a party before midnight struck. “And don’t even think about trying to get into my pants when I get you there, because it’s not going to work.” Charlie smiled cheekily and started heading for the door, letting the couple people he knew that he was going to head out and that he’d see them again soon. It was much quieter and easier to talk once they got out into the hallway. “Alright, no funny business, got it? I’m not going to hold your hand, but I don’t want you to faceplant either, so… We’ll go slow.”

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"You're welcome," he responded with complete sincerity, well, he thought his restraint deserved thanks at least. Grayson was far from even comparable to Charlie's hygiene standards, considering he was probably messier and at a lower standard than the average person let alone a germaphobe like Charlie.

They were moving around the room, away from the center and where he had been before he had gotten so distracted by Charlie. He couldn't even really remember what had brought him over here to begin with...oh right, this guy had been dancing. He snorted at Charlie's declaration, "Good thing too," he hummed, eyes closing, he was getting to that point of drunk where it was likely he might attempt to fall asleep while standing. Grayson was, after all, a very sleepy drunk.

He opened his eyes back up at his next comment, chuckling again, "I'm pretty good at hiding it aren't I?" Grayson was pretty well aware of the fact that he was not hiding anything at all about his drunkenness, but he didn't much care to either. It was just some fated circumstance that had caused him to bump into the one motherfucker in the room who wasn't wasted.

"Wouldn't really call 'em friends," Oriel and Kodi took those two slots, even they were kind of assholes, though, birds of a feather or some shit like that. "Hmmm," he had to think about that, where did he live? He knew he lived in an apartment with his brother it had been a decent walk but he was already buzzing before he got here. "Ridgeview," he said finally, already out in the hallway before he realized they were leaving. He looked around the hallway, momentarily wondering when the hell they'd gotten out here before looking at Charlie again.

"You seem confident," he teased, smiling right back at him, "How considerate Charlie, taking care of someone you just met. What a good kid." He snorted, starting on his own wobbly way beside him.

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Charlie did notice how droopy the other boy was getting, and sincerely doubted he would still be awake by the time midnight struck. His own buzz was already starting to die off since he’d finished his only drink a while ago. He would have brought another one, but he didn’t want to have to keep an eye on two drinks the whole night.

Ah, but he was still with Charlie for now, at least a little bit. “Oh yes, very good,” he replied sarcastically. “Unless you’re so clingy and unbalanced when sober, too.” He somehow doubted the snark and sexual forwardness would change if he was less inebriated, though. Then again, Charlie was unusual in that he didn’t need to be drunk to dance like an idiot, so he supposed he shouldn’t judge too much.

“No?” He rose his eyebrow curiously at the boy’s statement, feeling a little sorry for the guy. At least Char’s friends looked out for him to some degree (most of them at least), but he also never let himself get drunk enough to need to be taken care of anyway. “That’s too bad. Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll make a new friend by the end of the night, hm?” Charlie grinned. He was entertained by this person, if nothing else, and was curious to see what he was like when he wasn’t so plastered. “Ridgeview?” He could have groaned – that was a good distance away and not the direction he’d planned on going, but… Too late now. “Okay… Guess we’ll head that way, if you can make it that far.” Ugh, Charlie was going to have to help him walk, wasn’t he? At least he’d brought hand sanitizer…

He puffed out his chest as they went down the hallway, his goofy smile returning now that they were out of the apartment. “I’m never not confident,” he boasted. “And I am a nice guy, believe it or not. I think I’ve had enough partying tonight anyway, so don’t feel too bad for me.” Charlie smirked over at the wobbly guy. “You need to hold onto the wall? You’re looking pretty unstable there…” And they had a couple floors to go down… Probably best to take the elevator. Charlie stopped in front of the nearest one and pressed the down button, waiting until it got to their floor before stepping in, making sure the other boy was following. It was surprisingly empty – apparently everyone in the complex was busy partying already and not traveling. Which made sense, since midnight was fast approaching. Charlie hummed to himself as he held his sleeve over his nose, trying not to imagine all the germs that would be in the air in such a small space.