Raise Your Glass (closed)

[Zachary LaRousse]

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“Hey DeeDee, you ready yet?” yelled Zac as he entered the speedster’s room, uninvited as always. He looked around the common room, and finding not the speedster or his other blonde best friend, he sat down on the couch with a shrug, grabbing the remote and aimlessly flipping through the TV channels. “Robbie here yet? I told him to meet us here before heading down.”

While most of his peers were seemingly panicking about what happens after, the gravity of graduation didn’t really hit Zac up until the week before. He had the whole nonchalant thing going on, shrugging off such concerns and repeatedly telling people that it’s just one stupid ceremony and after that, life won’t really change much. It also probably helped that he had a few grad committee concerns to occupy his mind. But once those were over and he was left on his own the weekend before graduation, it hit him, and it hit him hard.

There’s really no turning back now, is there?

Like in true Zac fashion however, anxiety and fear must never ever be shown to people, not to his best friends, not to Stella, not to anyone. Or at least not in a whiny, supposedly girly way anyway. Which explains why he had a bottle of Jack Daniels and Smirnoff with him when he entered the room. “You still have the Coke from last week right?” he asked as he walked to the cupboards, grabbing them some cups.

[Robbie Wilkes]

He had woken up late for his graduation ceremony. He had made plans but he was canceling, or rather delaying, most of them because he knew he couldn't cancel on his two best friends. Not when they weren't going to see each other anymore after this. Not that he intended for that to be the way forever but still...they were all going to graduate.

He ran through the halls to get to JD's dorm, his cap and gown clutched in his hand, flying behind him as he made his way. He saw the animal mimic at the door as he finally arrived. Crashing into the other boy on the way in, Robbie turned it into a tacklehug. It seemed like ages since he last saw the Asian empire heir.

"Oy! Jerk. I haven't seen you in ages." The blonde climbed on top of Zac's shoulder, purposely bouncing on him. "I want a drink!"

[JD Paerson]

JD stepped out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist and shaking his head to get some of the water out of his ear. He glanced over at the kitchen where his two friends were already helping themselves to whatever clean dishes they could find and searching through the fridge.

"Since you two have already managed to make yourselves at home, I hope you won't mind if I take a minute to get dressed before we do anything." He stepped into his room to finish drying out and get dressed.

After a few minutes he stepped out, dressed in shorts and a tee. "So what's the plan for today?" he asked, stepping into the kitchen and picking up one of the cups. He checked it to make sure nothing was stuck to the bottom before pouring himself a drink. "More cartoons, driving out of town, smashing mailboxes? You weren't really specific when you said for us to meet."

He took his cup into the living room and flopped onto one of the couches. It was his room, he had no reason to share the couch. Or so he felt, anyway.

"Is it just the three of us this time?" He really hoped so. They'd tried the whole going out with the girls thing, and while spring break hadn't been a total disaster it was way more than he wanted to deal with right now.

[Zachary LaRousse]

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Not that Zac was an alcoholic, but his nerves were really getting a bit too much for him to handle – he swore he could hear his heart beating so loudly, not to mention his hands were so shaky – so he went out and already pour himself out a cup. He’s pretty sure JD and Robbie wouldn’t mind anyway. (He has two bottles; he doubts he can finish both in a few minutes). He was looking for snacks when the blonde tackled him in the kitchen, cursing loudly as he struggled to regain control and not spill any of his drink.

“Fuck Robbie,” he said in a mixture of irritation and amusement, his free hand quickly curling behind himself and beneath the boy to stabilize themselves, “You’ve been getting fat bro. I have to remind you that I don’t associate myself with fat and ugly people.” I would love to be able to say that such words weren’t true because the mimic is far from being that superficial, but then I’d be lying. He would make exceptions for his best friends though, not that he would admit them. “Hey, don’t blame me. You’ve been spending all your time with that brat of a girlfriend of yours. Have you managed to get in her pants yet? Your dong survived the onslaught of her teeth?”

He just waved at JD when the boy got out of the shower, and with Robbie still on his back, walked back to the centre of the common area to pour the younger boy (and himself, since he already finished his) a drink. “Here ya go you blonde bimbo,” he chuckled as he flopped down the couch. “You sure you haven’t drunk any yet DeeDee? I would love to trash the town with you guys, but my dad will get my head if I miss the ceremony later.” Though maybe he could get one of his cousins to cover for him. Might as well make them useful right? He handed JD a cup and gave him a glare that says he has to drink it or else. “So what’s the plan with you guys anyway?” He first turned to Robbie, then to JD. “Sure you don’t want to go to Harvard with us dude? My aunt’s part of the board.” Wink, wink. “And what is it I’m hearing about you and your girlfriend living together in Boston? Are you getting your own place then or is she coming to the penthouse with us?”

[Robbie Wilkes]

"We gon' get us wasted!" Robbie announced unhelpfully at JD's question as he still swayed on Zac's shoulder. He ignored all of Zac's annoyances, as always, just glad he was with his buddies once more.

"She's not a brat, dummy. She's pretty damn awesome thanks." The blonde smacked Zac on the top of his head before ruffling it affectionately. "And I'm not getting fat! I've just gotten more toned." He said, feigning hurt. He chose to ignore the next question posed and grabbed his drink, downing it in one go.

Robbie crawled off Zac's shoulder once the older boy got on the couch and wandered into the kitchen to pour himself another drink. The question about college got him shrugging. "I already got an acceptance letter to Greenview. Harvard's outta my league man." He turned to JD to hear his answer, as intrigued as the mimic was.

[Edited: I actually enrolled Robbie in Greenview, not U of V. Forgot to change this >_<]

[JD Paerson]

JD easily ignored the complaints against Robbie's girlfriend and weight. It was just bimbo banter, as he termed it. Honestly, sometimes he thought he was friends with a bunch of teenage girls.

"If you studied it wouldn't be out of your league," JD said, looking over at his friend. "I know you try to pretend you don't know anything, but if you tried I bet you'd do fine." But if he wanted to try for U of V, well, that was his call. "Too bad, Zac's gonna miss having you as a roommate."

And then they got into the question he'd been trying to avoid. At least for as long as he could. This conversation might get awkward. "Well, yeah. Yeah, Jay's gonna come live with me. We were thinking of trying to get our own place. You know. Some apartment somewhere. We don't want to bother you. But don't worry, I'll still come visit."

He shook his head forlornly. "I don't even want to think about how much debt I'm going to be in at the end of this...but at least I'll get a good job to pay it all back. What about you, Robbie? Any thoughts what comes after?" JD liked planning ahead. It was his strong suit. He wanted his friends to do the same; sometimes he worried about them.

"All right," he said, taking a large gulp of his drink. "Let's get this started, then. Is this just going to be us sitting around moping about our future or are we actually going to have fun? Since alcohol is already a depressant, shouldn't we have something entertaining to make up for it?" He wasn't sure what, of course, but he had some suggestions he could throw out if everyone else was stumped. Fallbacks, of course, but why change what already works?

[Zachary LaRousse]

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“What DeeDee said,” said Zac, grinning and nodding in agreement as he poured himself another cup. “The dumb blonde act can only take you so far. And besides, haven’t you noticed that being a ‘dorky yet hot nerd’ has been the ‘in’ thing lately?” Take the mainstream success of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ for example. Or the fact that comic cons aren’t just for hardcore fans anymore. Then again, if you fit what society would count as ‘hot’, you can pretty much get away with anything. Why do you think Zac thinks he’s above the law anyway? (Aside from the fact that he probably has more than enough money to burn the school down). “And besides, the only thing that’s out of your league – heck out of anyone’s league – is me. Anyone and anything else is fair game.”

He pouted at the roommate comment, giving both his best friends punches that just might’ve been a bit too strong. “Missing him? I’ll miss both of you retards,” grumbled the mimic, finishing his third cup within the last five minutes in one gulp, “I had grand plans you know. Us three living in my dad’s penthouse and partying every weekend once were out of this dump.” Well, more like the two of them getting wasted and JD having to look after them 90% of the time. But still, same banana. “But no. You two had to get girls and be serious with them and ruin everything. Which basically proves my theory about girls being the harbingers of death and destruction. Screw them. Screw them all.” Him stumbling to the floor after throwing his arm away (for dramatic effect) would probably suggest that he’s starting to feel the buzz.

“Oh you will visit. I’ll make you. I’ll get my private security teams to abduct you and Wilkes if you two don’t join me gate crash numerous frat parties this September.” He has three different teams on speed dial; he could easily ask Cedric for more should there be a need.

The mimic couldn’t help but roll his eyes (or at least tried his best to roll his eyes) when he heard the speedster saying stuff about his financial woes. “Seriously? You’re seriously thinking about financial woes? God I feel insulted as a friend.” Sure he was talking to JD, but he accidentally leaned in on Robbie’s shoulder, happily nestling there as he spoke. “Other than the three different foundations under my family’s company’s name, I’m pretty sure we have ties to various different charities and stuff. I could easily have made you a recipient of one if you asked.” He poked Robbie’s face with his finger, pouting to show his (once again) empty cup. “And don’t tell me both of you don’t deserve stuff like that, ‘cause you do. You’re smart as hell JD and Robbie, well you’re Robbie.”

The Smirnoff was almost empty, eliciting a whine from the egotistic teen. He’s going to need more if he has to sit through them talking about their future. As much as the speedster loves it, he hates it. He hates it with a passion. “Be a stripper,” he chuckled, slapping the blonde’s back, “Though you have to work on your dancing a whole lot first.”

“I don’t know. All I know is we need to head to my room first and grab three more bottles from there. We’re almost out. Unless of course Prude King here has a secret stash we don’t know about.”

[Robbie Wilkes]

Rolling his eyes at JD's sermon, Robbie ruffled the brunette's hair and nuzzled his face. He laughed at Zac's ensuing reply to JD's words. "You people. I don't play dumb. It comes effortlessly to me. I just happen to have a brain the size of a...something big. And not you Zac. Don't flatter yourself." The blonde rolled his bright blue eyes and downed his cup of alcohol with a grin.

"Oh I'm sorry, I meant to say so you're saying you're out of Stella Pinyin's league as well? Because last I heard, she's out of yours." Robbie smirked, raising an eyebrow before grabbing an almost empty bottle and drinking straight out of that.

"Come on, we could still do those things. I know I would. I mean...I won't let something stupid like classes ruin my fun." Robbie rolled his eyes as started to snuggle up into Zac's arm. He laughed at Zac's threat, though knowing how easily he could actually deploy those teams.

"Zac, you can't always financially support both of us. I mean we do need to stand on our feet sometime. I love you for that, I really do but I don't wanna be known as your charity and slash or your gold digging hoe of a friend."

Oh future talk brought Robbie down just as much as it did Zac, which was why he was trying to get as drunk as possible before everything became even more serious.

"JD as a stripper. I would pay good money for that. I swear. One month wage gone just to see him strip." Robbie took out the money he had in his pocket and started to shower JD with it, laughing.

"I vote for your room. No offence, JD but I trust that Zac has more than whatever you have stashed away."

[JD Paerson]

JD chose to stay out of the Stella conversation. Some things he didn't want to bother with. However, he did scoot slightly out of punching range and make sure everything important and breakable was put away, just in case. He wasn't a babysitter this time, just crowd control.

"Girls don't ruin fun, in case you haven't noticed Zac," JD said. "I thought you were the expert on that?" No matter what the guy said, JD wasn't going to give up his Jaybird. He was finally in a relationship that had lasted more than three months, and he wasn't going to be the thing that made it fall apart. "We'll still have fun. We've managed to here, haven't we? Even with all the head guys watching over our every thought. You don't need SWAT teams to convince me to celebrate the end of imprisonment." While it wasn't that bad, senioritis had definitely set in, and JD was ready to get out.

He frowned when Zac brought up money, but Robbie spoke up first. "He's right, Zac. We're not going to live off you. That's not friendship either." The car was an entirely different matter--he'd earned that. "I'm earning scholarships for college, but I'm also going to be earning money when I get my job. It's okay to be in debt for a while when you're first starting out. Everyone does it. You're a really strange fluke."

Thinking about his future was bringing a smile to JD's face. Living with his girlfriend, living near friends, attending college, finally having freedom...and then eventually a great job and family and just about anything he could want. How could graduation be anything other than fantastic when the future looked so bright? He took his third drink and watched the others slowly decline. What was eating their goat?

"Keep your money," JD said. "You're going to need all of it, from what I can tell. I don't even know how you have the money to keep up your wardrobe, not to mention all that hair gel."

He shrugged. "Fine with me. I used up my stash a while ago anyway." In a large act of stupidity that he hoped never to repeat, which explained why he hadn't replenished that particular corner of his closet. "What's with the new nickname?" he asked on the way up. "Just because I'm not as flamboyant as you hardly makes me the biggest stick-in-the-mud in the school."

As they entered Zac's room to grab some extras JD tried to think about what they were going to do. Realistically they couldn't hang around here much longer--they were going to get in trouble the second they got caught. While he was still mostly sober, he decided it was best if they all made some plans.

"Okay, Zac, hand me your graduation gown and cap." He pulled a plastic bag out from under the sink to stuff the clothes into. "And Robbie, we'll need to grab yours, and then get mine. We'll stash them over in the guy's bathroom at the auditorium so we can change there instead of coming back here. Then I vote we head out onto one of the running trails and hang out back there so we don't get caught drunk in the dorms. And before you ask, no, I'm not carrying you."

[Zachary LaRousse]

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Zac simply chuckled when Robbie denied that he’s playing dumb. As fun as proving the weather manipulator otherwise would’ve been, the Asian teen’s in no mood to do such thing. There’s a chance that an argument such at that might break Robbie’s heart and cause unnecessary tension at the end of the year, so it’s not worth it. And besides, his mind’s way to inebriated to make coherent points anyway. “If you’re saying your brain’s the size of DeeDee’s dick, well I’m disappointed. We all know it’s nothing special.” Drunk heir let out a boisterous laugh, grabbing both his friends by their necks and rubbing their cheeks together. “And no, yours isn’t any better. The fact that you just said that it’s not mine just proves that your definition of big isn’t really big at all.”

His face did change to what seemed to be a scowl when Stella’s name was said, growling slightly as he snatched the bottle from Robbie’s hand and drank what little of the liquor they had left. “Keep her out of this dufus,” he said, punching the blonde lightly, “She’s going to get surgery you know. In Boston. She didn’t tell me she’s going blind. So they’re doing it right after graduation so they can still salvage her eyesight. But then there’s like a chance that the surgery would just accelerate her blindness. I just…” He let the bottle drop to the floor and roll away, staring blankly at the wall in front of them with his shoulders drooping. “…I can’t do this you guys.”

Group hug anyone?

The quick topic jumps and his intoxication were actually helping Zac get his mind off the whole surgery thing. It helped lots, to be honest. “Fine fine, let me rephrase that. Girls who tie you down are harbingers of death and destruction. Commitment’s pretty much a death sentence, especially when we’re at our prime.” He gave both boys noogies when he said that. “Which is why I’m not getting a girlfriend until I’m forty. But even then I might still be so hot so I just might pull myself a George Clooney. Cool right?” His face brightened when his buddies told him that even though they’re pretty much occupied themselves, they’d still have time for him. “Can I get you to say that again once I get my recorder? You know, so I can send you in jail if you don’t fulfill it.” Kinky.

“If I tell you, I have to kill you,” smirked Zac when JD asked about his money, making a gun with his fingers and jokingly shooting the speedster. “Just because you’re not the biggest, doesn’t mean you’re not.” He tried his best to lead the two dorks to his room, though walking straight seemed to be quite the challenge already. “Stupid lock,” he said as he crushed JD’s dorm knob with his hands, unable to open it properly.

What JD said barely registered in Zac’s mind. All he heard was graduation gowns, caps, stashing, auditorium and carrying. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re saying, but let’s go with that.” He promptly threw his gown to the speedster’s face, while beckoning Robbie to come closer and open the secret compartment of his rightmost closet for him. (He had it built two years ago). “Robbie’ll carry me. He’s almost as fucking tall as you now anyway. Stupid genes making me the shortest now.”

Zac didn’t bother grabbing a cup. He simply chugged the vodka down when Robbie handed it to him, saying, “What? It’s vodka. It goes bad once it’s opened.” He promptly opened two more 26-es and handing them to his friends. “I opened them, so you have to drink it now,” added the mimic with a mischievous grin.

[Robbie Wilkes]

"Look at that. Even Dee wouldn't pass up a chance to hang. You worry about the weirdest things." Robbie rolled his eyes before giving out a surprised sound when he was smooshed against JD's cheek. "No...the fact that you think yours is even in the same ballpark as the definition just proves you know nothing about size."

As Zac talked about Stella, it was obvious that the heir cared that much about his glowworm but Robbie said nothing about it, even when the other boy slumped forward pathetically. He looked at JD for cues as to what he should do before awkwardly patting Zac's head. It lasted about two seconds before he pulled the boy in a headlock. "Stop being so emo all of a sudden! We're graduating for fuck's sake!"

"Oh dude. Oh dude...we as witnesses will solemnly swear to hang you by your toenails if you ever get into a serious relationship with anybody man or woman before the age of forty. And when I say serious, I mean breakfast after a sleepover."

"Lame." Robbie responded with a laugh at Zac's finger gestures along with his little cliched threat. "Ahah! You had one? That's so awesome, Dee! I don't know where to put mine." Mostly because he had no nooks and crannies to stash his secrets away.

Robbie laughed at the crushed doorknob as they ran/walked/tripped over their shoelaces to Zac's dorm. Unlike Zac, Robbie was still sober enough to register what JD had said and took off his robe and cap, nodding at Zac's plan to utilise his height.

"Didn't even say anything, Zac." Robbie rolled his eyes before stealing the bottle from him and chugging it down. He also took the other bottle Zac handed to him and drank that too. Oh would he be drunk or what.

Halfway through, he raised his bottle to the other two and grinned.

"To graduating from this hellhole." His grin turned into a smirk.

[OOC: What says you gaiz we wrap this thing up? Like have this be the trio's Poker Night but with added awesome ]