Tiny Vessels

[ViolentMedic]

"Yeah, good times for everyone! Let's go get those snacks. I could eat a horse. Well, not really. What does horse even taste like?"

She started to head towards the table, tugging Conrad along by his arm. Nice, they had cake. Who didn't love cake? Fucking idiots, that's who.

She frowned a little when Kizi said who she'd come with.

"You came here with Beaks? He's kind of a dick, though." Clarice had never been one to hold back on opinions. "I mean, I guess whatever works for you." She supposed there were worse people. She could have turned up with Bradley. Kizi could totally do better, though.

She let go of Conrad's arm to grab one of the little cupcakes.

[RC†]

Beaks dated Ki- oh, just was her dance partner. Calm down. No, he had no reason to calm down. Everything was fine, even if Beaks dated Kizi.

Actually, not really. Conrad did not know Beaks that well, but he had a...reputation. Conrad heard that he gotten into a fight with Bradley some years ago. Clarice claiming that Beaks was 'kind of a dick' was not really making Conrad happier either.

But Conrad still had his smile on his face.

"Whatever horse tastes like: I prefer cake!"

Conrad did the same as Clarice and also grabbed a cake. Conrad regretted that, maybe he should have waited till he was actually hungry. After all, the cake was limited. But nonetheless he bit it and it was tasty.

[Rorick Skyve†]

Time to set the floor on fire, bring the heat, roast 'em all up - whatever the hell was gonna guarantee the most fun. Quick piss in the bathroom, not the best way to start Sadies, that was for sure. But it was done now, all dealt with, nothing and no one would stop him from walking right into that hall now. Hell, they could try! Make things interesting for him, nothing like a good challenge. But who was he kidding, things running smoothly for once didn't sound too bad either, especially since he was here with Kizi. Not ending the evening with a complete trainwreck, he owed her that much. She was a good lass, that one. Wouldn't want to upset her, no way José.

He could already hear the muffled sounds of the bass penetrating the walls and filling the hallway. Door was just across, few steps and he was in and ready to go. He was beyond eager, blood pumpin', legs ready to swing all over the place and of course, he had the good ol Aiden-grin on. Most important part of anything, ever. He felt naked without it,

Finally, he was within arm length of the door that led to the action. Good tune that was playing currently, he was already getting into the rythm. Too bad it would already be over before he even got the chance to dance, but fuck it, not like that was gonna ruin it all. Aiden looked down his own torso once more, making sure everything was in order, more or less. Bright blue blazer, white shirt, reddish pants...ha, that would probably piss some people off, some off that posh, crusty fashion-nazi twits. Nicer dicer.

Cocking his head and making his neck crack a little, he finally pushed open the doors. Yeah, this was gonna be fun, no dizzedi-doubt about it. The place already looked way more interesting than that bore and snorefest last year. People were actually having some frickin fun this time, so they did. About time he joined in.

Didn't take him too long to spot his belle of a dance partner. There she was, not too far from the entrance slash exit, talking to some peeps. Oh boy, that peacock in the tux, that was the council president or something, wasn't he? Kizi rollin with royalty, eh? Eh, why not. As long as he wasn't one of those bigheaded types, who took themselves too seriously, all was fine. He'd see soon enough.

And that other chick? Not sure he remembered her name, he had definitely seen her before, maybe talked to her once, no idea why, when and if. That was some sweet muscle on her though, that gal looked like she was straight outa some cheap ass Rocky-clone kinda flick. Definitely didn't want to piss her off. Remembering her name probably helped. Was it Candice? Nah, that was some other chick, the fat one. Candy, Christine, Cherry, Carla, Camille, Carmen? C-something, that much was for sure. Whatevs. Time to catch up on that later.

He scratched the back of his neck for a second, then started walking over. Tux dude and tall lady went for some sweets, fine with him, as long as they left something for him to sink his teeth into. Kizi was looking good, not she was ever looking bad, but it only occured to him now. Still, he would never think of her as anything else than a friend, Sadies date or not. Fun to hang with, fun to talk to, all he needed. Romance or bullshit like that just wasn't for him. Maybe one day, when he was working as fuck-if-he-knew-what, then he would start thinking about that sorta thing. Maybe.

Just as he finished the thought, he finally closed in on Kizi, close enough to jump on her back and make her wear him like a backpack. Wasn't gonna happen, though the idea was tempting. Instead, he took another step forward and then lightly tapped his date on the shoulder. "I spy, with my little eye - a frickin cutie. Ah, was looking at that gal over there, sorry. You're not looking bad either, though." He snickered, then removed his hand from her back.  "So what is up, K to the Izi?"

[General Goose]

Kizi shrugged, and chuckled nervously, at Clarice's forthright expression of her opinion on Aiden. She did not feel entitled to challenge Clarice's opinion. It was one she had probably developed with some justification, though she was sure it was fundamentally down to innocuous personality clashes or plain ol' misunderstanding. Kizi believed most personality clashes in school stemmed from such misunderstandings. Mistakes were easy to make. She misunderstood things a lot, so she was kinda hypervigilant about the dangers of miscommunication.

See, it was gossip like this that made her fear the name 'Beaks' might have unacknowledged negative connotations. She saw him coming over now so, while she had no interest in doing so, she could hardly afford to get into a debate about his merits. It was unseemly. Impolite.

"Yeah, it's just I didn't have a partner, he didn't have a partner, and I get on with him. Sucks you think that about him."

She timed it so her sentence finished just as he came into earshot, and chuckled at his joke. She did like this sort of friendly teasing. "I'm good," she replied, "A to the....iden. It doesn't work so well." B to the eaks would also be awful, she thought, but did not voice that opinion out loud. "How are you?"

[ViolentMedic]

Clarice just shrugged at Kizi's reply about how it sucked that Clarice thought badly of him. Partially because her mouth was full of cake, partially just to convey 'whatever floats your boat.' Probably best that she didn't say it outloud, since Beaks turned up right after.

She wouldn't normally have an issue with saying it outloud, but this was a dance. And it was going to be fun and there weren't going to be any arguments. It wasn't going to be the fucking bowling alley again.

"Beaks," she said stiffly, after swallowing her mouthful of cake. She nodded at him awkwardly before taking a bigger bite of cake than she might normally have done.

Maybe dancing and leaving Kizi behind was a better idea, now that she knew Kizi wasn't here alone. Her eyes briefly drifted back towards the dance floor, as she watched the various couples dancing.

[RC†]

K to the izi? N to the o. Beaks. Beaks was really making Conrad cringe inwardly with the lame flirt he attempted at Kizi.

But he tried to ignore it and concentrated on the cake.

"Beaks", he repeated what Clarice had said. Well, with a full mouth. Eh, whatever. It did not look disgusting, it just made it sound more like a 'byyx', though.

Conrad looked at Clarice and noticed how she looked at the dance floor.

"It's tasty, Clarice. Don't you think?"

[Rorick Skyve†]

"I'm doing a-okay, Zee Zee. Sorry 'bout the delay and all, had to go deliver something to the WC Republic real quick, you follow me?" He chuckled and scratched a spot of imaginary stubble on his neck. Yeah, fun was only about to start. Just had to wait for a nice track to play now, then it was time for some happy feet!

Or not. Looked like he had attracted some attention - no surprise there, really. He heard his name being called from the side, twice. Slapping on an impish smile, he turned towards the origin of the voices. Right, those two. Planned to stick around, did they? Might as well roll with it then, see if they could handle a concentrated charge of vitamin Beaks.

He threw an amused glance at Kizi, back over his shoulder. "So these are your buddie-buddies then, Zi, do I have that right?" He let out something that was supposed to sound like an impressed whistle - with less than moderate success. "Well I'll be damned, hanging with the high society, are ya? Hell of a leap to the top, compared to a bum like me, eh?" He gave her a friendly wink, then turned back to face the other two again. Had to start with the goliath chick. Ladies first.

"Sup? Gonna say it straight away, I don't really remember your name or anything. You can tell me though, or you  can't. Whatever ya prefer, C." Another wink, more frisky this time. "Yeah, nice to meetcha anyway."

Aiden shifted his gaze towards Conrad, then gave an almost mockingly polite nod. Social standards and all that shit. "Mister President." He gave it a fake undertone of respect, though only meant as a friendly joke. The guy had to have some sense of humor, right? "Or do ya prefer 'Mister Bond'?" He snickered, following it up with the third wink in a row. Triple, baby. King of combo right there.

"Nah, for real though, looking sharp in that suit, yes Sir! You too, tall lady, good stuff. You two here together or something?"

[General Goose]

Well.

Things were awkward.

Kizi saw that now.

She doubted Aiden did, however.

Yeah. She could maybe understand a little bit how he could rub people the wrong way. That WC Republic line was pretty meh. She smiled out of friendliness though. And sadly, every line that followed was perhaps even more cringe-inducing, his blabbermouth moving perhaps a bit too fast for her more conventional methods of ice-breaking and making introductions to prevail.

But hey, on average, Kizi enjoyed his company, so that was the main thing.

[ViolentMedic]

"S'good," Clarice responded, taking another bite of cupcake right after to prevent her initial urge to be kind of rude.

She ended up chewing on cupcake through most of Beaks' chatter. She supposed he wasn't really being a dick right now, though something about him was rubbing her the wrong way. She tried not to scowl or frown at him. Granted, she wasn't managing to smile at him, but hey. Small steps.

She still thought Kizi could do way better, though.

At the question as to whether they were there together, she flatly said, "Sure. I'm Mr. President's bodyguard."

She didn't really want to get into any relationship talk with him. He seemed like the type who'd go way too easily into making fun of it, given that he'd already managed to bring up her size. What better way to head it off than by joking about it herself and hoping that got it over with?

Glancing at Conrad, she nodded her head slightly towards the dance floor, as if to say 'want to go back there?'

[RC†]

High society Bond? Conrad thought he was dressed appropiately, but Beaks apparently made fun of him. "Mr. President" raised an eyebrow before politely smiling at Beaks, who probably joked around in a very bad way. Making fun of the height of people was not right, in Conrad eyes, no matter how tall or small one is. If Clarice and Beaks were friends, yes, maybe, but damn it, he did not even know her name.

Good thing was that Clarice saved the conversation with the bodyguard comment, which was a very smart move. So he had to smirk at Clarice and as he did that, he realised that they probably should go to the dance floor again. Yeah, that would be better than talking about presidents and WC Republic with its capital in Washington W.C.

"Thanks. Yeah, we are here together for the dance. You are dancing together with Kizi, I see. How did you two meet?"

Well, he should stop small talking and maybe dance with Clarice again for a pleasant time without Aiden and Kizi. Both made him feel uncomfortable for two very different reasons.

"We just wanted to have a quick break, but I think we will go dancing again!"

[Rorick Skyve†]

Nice. Aiden complimented C's remark with a snicker and an acknowledging nod in her direction, honor to whom honor was due, stuff like that. "Good one. Trying to beat me at my own game, are ya? I approve."

Deadpan was the way she was swinging, eh? Big, snarky mountain. Hey, now there was a pet name. Something to keep in mind in case she'd stick around some, hang out around him in the future. Which he was seriously doubting, but eh, one could never know. Better to be prepared than...not.

El Presidente took the reins again, saying he and tall lady where there together for the dance - like, duh. President Obvious right there. Getting personal now though, asking bout him and Kizi, was he? Aiden glanced at his friend next to him. She was okay with him telling that to Connie, right? No real secret, just some random trivia bout The Beaks and K-Eazy. Yeah, why not.

"Me and her? Could say childhood friends, I guess. No big story there, unless you're into biography style tales." He raised his hands in an apologetic gesture, though contrasting this with a sly smirk. "But don't let my spiel hold you two off, you wanna dance, you go for it. Woulda asked Kizi to do the same, but she's not really into swinging her feet, you with me? Easier to get her to uppercut me than do that."

He gave his partner a slight nudge with his elbow, offering her a more warm smile. "Ain't that right?"

[General Goose]

Kizi distracted herself by nobbling ferociously at the various treats and snacks on display behind her, one ear on the conversation going on so as to be ready to intervene were a personality clash between Aiden and Clarice to materialise in some more tangible form. She had appreciated Clarice being so blunt and forthright, in hindsight. She would not have spotted the signs herself, and may have ended up forcing the two duos into a more direct conversation.

"Yeah, standard school friend stuff," she said, adding a fellow addendum to Aiden's own explanation. A summary, as it were.

And after his line about the uppercut, she clenched her fist and pretended to drive it into his chin. Her motions were too slow, even at its fastest, to be able to deliver anything more than a negligible bump, but she made sure to stop an inch from his chin anyway. "Yeah, he's right about that. Can't dance a bit."

[ViolentMedic]

God, Conrad, don't ask how they met, that'll only prolong having to talk to him.

At least the explanation was short. Clarice nodded absently during the explanation before sticking the remaining bit of cake she was holding inside her mouth and clamping her arm around Conrad's.

"Yeah, we're gonna, uh—" Clarice waved her hand at the dance floor. "That way. Have fun."

She gave a little wave to Kizi, then steered Conrad back towards the dance floor. Once her face was turned away from Kizi and Beaks, she made a face at Conrad as if to say 'at least that's over with.'

[RC†]

Childhood friends, eh? Conrad wanted to broach the subject again, but then Clarice wanted to go away. When she clamped her around his, Conrad turned to Kizi while walking towards the floor.

"Oh, dancing is...", he started, but stopped. "Yeah, see you later!"

Then, he changed his focus to Clarice, who gave him a look. She did not like Kizi and Aiden, given the expression, or at least the situation. Conrad kinda wished she would be more friendly and would like more people and dislike less. Like Kizi? No. Clarice is Clarice and is perfect for being herself. Disliking certain people is legitimate. Aiden was a jerk, yeah. Not as jerky as Bradley, no. Yeah, maybe Aiden was not a jerk. Whatever, the fact was that Clarice did not like him. When out of earshot, he said something.

"Cool, now we can finally dance again. You don't like Aiden, do you?"

Waiting for her reaction, he offered his other hand.

[Rorick Skyve†]

As soon as his chin came close to making contact with Kizi's "uppercut", Aiden's facial features began to become distorted with simulated pain - all in slow mo, of course.

He grinned when he was finished, then licked his lips with delight. "Had to add that, Zee Zee. Y'know, since I'm Irish n' all. Mel O'Dramatic, you with me?" Had to watch out. One more of those and he'd risk cashing in some real punches. Pun-ishment, more like. Heh, he really was on fire tonight. Wondered what the other two thought of it though. Doubted Miss Snarky would like it all that much, but maybe -

Nevermind, off they went. Almost didn't even notice them leaving, all busy with entertaining his "date." Whatever, not like he was gonna miss'em much anyway. That Conrad dude was surprisingly okay, dull as Dutch ducks, sure, but at least not all stuck-up royalty like. Woulda expected worse, really. So little pleasant surprise there, at least.

Calamity Jane though, Big C, she was...not really scary, no, not like he was afraid of tall ladies. Couldn't tell what her deal was, maybe she didn't like him, maybe she was just all shy. Or maybe she really did just want to dance, get her groove on. Some peeps' personalities completely changed when they did specific things, all flip-floppity like. Maybe it was the same deal with her. Not his business anyway, so whatevs. 'slong as Kizi was still around, there would be no complainies from him.

"So much for that. Lovely bunch, aren't they?", he smirked, looking at his friend. "Looks like we scared'em off with our display of domestic violence." He shrugged, then took a second to look at his wrist watch. Still helluva lot of time to go, evening had only just started, really. Had to do something though, with dancing not being an option. Maybe get something to drink. Sounded like a good start.

"So, whaddaya say we go get ourselves something to wet our throats with, hm?"