Welcome! Staff! Announcements! Credits!

[ADRIAN MORGAN]

I'LL WAIT HERE, YOU'RE CRAZY

THOSE VICIOUS STREETS ARE FILLED WITH STRAYS

›phony people come to pray. look at all of them beg to stay. phony people come to pray.‹

Honestly, Adrian wasn’t sure whose house this was or which friend of a friend decided to have this party to begin with. Sometimes the chain of invites was too long to remember and other times it was open invitation so it didn’t matter anyway. Somehow, he always tended to find a party; any day of the week really. Though, weekends were better for partying for everyone involved. Generally, he knew at least some of the people he wound up partying with, but it wasn’t mandatory. He was a social guy and not someone who needed to know everyone personally. He could still hang out and have a good time without knowing anyone on a personal level. It wasn’t like he had a lot of friends he knew too personally anyway. Even the ones he called friend could easily be discarded nine times out of ten. It was how he worked and how he kept his distance from people that he’d never be able to trust anyway. Tonight, he’d run into a few people that he knew. And that was better, anyway. Especially if he wanted to get any business at all. Word of mouth was how he managed to make a sale and he couldn’t always know who to slip up and make the offer to. Friends could lead their friends in the right direction and of course he was hoping to get a little money out of being here. He didn’t go to the parties solely for fun. But, it was a big part of it. Seeing a weekend without a party was rare for him and had been for years now. He couldn’t remember a time where drugs and booze weren’t a part of his life at least once a week. The night was still young and Adrian was neither drunk nor stoned, though he figured he might hit one, the other, or both by the time the night was finished. For now, he was mingling, hanging out and soaking up the loud atmosphere.

The house was filled with music and chatter, bodies everywhere, drinking, smoking and a world that he was completely at ease in. And people who weren’t as comfortable tended to stand out pretty far to him. While Adrian liked to party, he was well aware that there were people who didn’t. And he didn’t hold it against them—much. It was weird to him, because he couldn’t imagine not having a good time now and then. And his idea of fun had always been events like that. Sure, he had other ways to have a good time, but there had to be a release from the rest of the world. There had to be awesome parties where the alcohol loosened people up. And parties and clubs tended to be where Adrian hit the most when it came to dealing. He didn’t stand out on a corner somewhere or hide out in his apartment waiting for desperate knocks. Actually, no one who bought from him was allowed to know where the hell he lived under any circumstance. It was too risky for him and too much traffic would be suspicious enough to have his landlord on his ass. He’d found his scene in parties. It put money in his pocket and food on the table. Not to mention, it was usually the perfect way to hook someone in. Of course, it wasn’t all that he went there for. Not everyone he had contact with was someone he was hoping to score extra money from. He was only on his first beer when he’d slipped out of the party for air and moved to the balcony. Not a lot of people tended to go out there. Privacy was generally found indoors and no one wanted to get out of the centre of attention. Well, most people didn’t anyway. He wasn’t expecting to see anyone else out there, so he paused, giving her a look over before deciding it was all right to join. “Hey, needed a break?” He asked, still sizing her up. It was hard to read someone with only two seconds on the clock. Though, right off, she wasn’t striking him as the party hard type. So it probably wasn’t so much of a break as an escape from the party, in general. And he supposed he was about to find out.

made by cupcakesss of Caution 2.0

[♔ AKEMI SATO]

WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

Her hand was wrapped tightly around a can of diet coke, her fingers absently tapping against it in time to the beat of whatever song was playing – something that sounded vaguely familiar, but that Akemi couldn’t put a name to. They’d been here half an hour or so, she guessed, and in that time, her roommate had already done a row of shots, and Akemi had been offered a drink a total of seven times, been asked to dance three times, and had some guy tell her she had a nice rack (which she didn’t understand, because a rack of what?). She didn’t even know what she was doing here in the first place, really, but then she always seemed to end up getting dragged along to things by one of her friends, and not really knowing what she was getting herself into until she was in a room full of people that she didn’t know, with a lot of alcohol that she wasn’t going to drink, searching for the nearest exit. She couldn’t even just go back to school, because they’d come in to New York for this party – why there weren’t good ones near school was something that Akemi didn’t understand, but then there was a lot about partying that she didn’t get – and she couldn’t afford a taxi back, and while she could have gone back to her parents’, they weren’t expecting her, and she was pretty sure that they would disapprove if she told them that she was back home because she’d escaped from a party. While they couldn’t technically stop her, since she wasn’t living at home anymore, she was still underage, and she had done a lot to go against their wishes recently, with switching her major, there was no way that she was going to let them knew she got taken to places where she could have done all the kinds of things that they had tried to protect her from. Not that she would have done that, but...there was alcohol here. There were probably drugs, and people having sex – or maybe that one would happen later in the night. It wasn’t exactly something to tell her parents, was it? She was just going to have to stick it out, and hope that the people who’d brought her here weren’t going to go home with someone else and leave her stranded – which was exactly why they should have stayed in Albany, in Akemi’s view. She wasn’t comfortable here, she didn’t fit in; she didn’t mind being around people, as long as they were people that she knew, but a group like this...she had never been comfortable at parties, choosing always to be the wallflower, instead, the one standing in the corner with her phone and a non-alcoholic drink, wishing that the hours would pass quickly. Sometimes she brought her camera and amused herself by taking pictures of the party-goers, but she hadn’t done that tonight, either, and as soon as she spotted the balcony, Akemi was making her way over there through the throng of people and another invitation to dance, which she turned down with a shake of her head and polite smile – she didn’t dance. She didn’t know how to, and she really didn’t think that she’d be comfortable doing that...grinding up against one another thing. That wasn’t dancing, was it? It was still a little early in the night for people to be all over each other, mostly, but Mimi still knew what was coming, because she had seen enough of these since freshman year, when her roommate had decided that it was boring for Akemi to stay in on her own and that she needed to be dragged out, something that their other friends had agreed with. Friends who were now on their way to being drunk and dancing in the middle of it, leaving her alone. She’d have preferred to be alone in her room, really. At least the view was nice, she’d give this place that, and she looked over as someone joined her on the balcony, shrugging before returning her gaze to the dark world outside. “I’m...not really a party person.”

[ADRIAN MORGAN]

I'LL WAIT HERE, YOU'RE CRAZY

THOSE VICIOUS STREETS ARE FILLED WITH STRAYS

›phony people come to pray. look at all of them beg to stay. phony people come to pray.‹

Boredom was haunting for Adrian. It never led to anything good if he was left to his own devices. He would rather be where the action was, amongst the noise and company than by himself, alone. It wasn’t to say that he didn’t like his privacy sometimes. He could stay in his apartment and play video games or browse the internet quietly without a problem. But, as far as being alone often, he hated it. it gave him too much time to think and he generally didn’t like the way his own thought pattern was. Not to mention, it was one way he could find ways to get himself into trouble. Boredom wasn’t any good. Parties were better. There was always something to do, someone around, not to mention parties where usually where he earned quite a bit of money. There were more people willing to buy from him; people that weren’t the regulars, even. It was a setting where getting as high as you wanted was completely encouraged. And Adrian understood the appeal, because it wasn’t as if he didn’t use now and then. He was just a little more schooled on what he should and shouldn’t take. Just because he sold it didn’t mean he always wanted it in his veins. It was a common thought, really, amongst other dealers. Obviously, they were more sober than the people they sold to. The party wasn’t bad and he was glad for that, because sometimes parties turned into flops and he knew he’d wasted most of his night. Here, it was good. Of course, not everyone was the same type of partier that he was. By no means was he a wallflower or quiet. He was bold and ready to get involved with anyone that he could. Shyness wasn’t something that Adrian carried.

Adrian had started going to parties when he was still a young teenager. It was probably in the year following his mom’s death that he started to dive in. No one thought much of it, because in his neighbourhood, the partying and the drugs started young. His brother did his best to keep him out of there too much until he was older. He’d been to every high school party there was as a teenager and he hit a more variety of them once he was out of there. It really was his element. It was where he was comfortable and smooth. Apparently, though, the girl that he approached wasn’t the same type of person that he was. And she didn’t look it either, but he could tell just by where she stood that this probably wasn’t her scene. But, again, you never knew by looking at someone. There were people that had surprised him quite a bit. He thought one thing, but they still managed to shock him. “Someone dragged you here, didn’t they?” He asked, because he couldn’t think of any other reason why someone would go somewhere they didn’t want to be. Adrian might have been a party person, but there were places that he wouldn’t want to go and would probably have to be dragged. “You know, it’s not so bad if you get used to it.” Though, maybe some people didn’t get used to it as easily as he did. He didn’t think she looked like bad company though. He could go back in and join the party whenever he wanted to. Even Adrian could use a little break from the chaos that the night would bring as it progressed. It was still early for him and he wasn’t even close to buzzed. He didn’t know how drunk his plans were tonight, but he absolutely didn’t have a problem talking with some stranger.

made by cupcakesss of Caution 2.0

[♔ AKEMI SATO]

WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

Akemi was almost never bored; there was always something to do – if anything, not enough time to do them all. She had school work, of course, and that took up a vast majority of her time because she was a perfectionist when it came to that, wanting to get the best grades possible, and then she had photography, which, while technically school work, was different because she had to go out, or plan projects, or put together a portfolio on a particular theme, and it required a different kind of thinking than writing an essay or doing a page of equations did. She took pictures for pleasure, too, and that was one of the things that she did quite a lot of if she couldn’t think of anything else to do; Mimi liked her camera. She had music practice to do, although she didn’t do it quite as often as she had done in high school, she liked cooking, she had relatives to email or skype with, hanging out with her friends, reading...there was a lot of that she could do, really, and she wasn’t the sort of person to just sit on the end of her bed and moan about how bored she was. She’d browse the internet or read another chapter of her book, and yes, they were pretty quiet, solitary activities, but that was the sort of thing that Akemi honestly liked doing. She was shy and an introvert; it was hardly surprising that she chose to be alone a lot of the time, however much she adored her friends. And she did love them, they did mean a lot to her, and she loved going shopping with them or grabbing lunch or just lying in the quad doing nothing but chatting. She loved them, but she wished that they hadn’t dragged her here, because it was the opposite of what she wanted to be doing, and they were so far from her room, now. She wondered if her brother was home; maybe she could crash with him for the night instead of going back to their parents’. She’d have felt less worried about the judgement for being at a party, even if she wasn’t doing drugs or drinking, from him. She was content to stay out here on the balcony for a little while, though; it was quieter, and the night air was cool, sure, but it was better than being stuffed inside with all the people that were too close to one another, even if the dress that Mimi was wearing was too thin for it. She had her back to the party, and the view was spectacular, and Akemi wished that she had brought her camera, now, because she could have gotten some wonderful shots of the city from here; the New York skyline might have been photographed millions of times, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t want to do it for herself, anyway. She was sure that she knew somebody whose apartment complex had a roof that she could get onto, though, if she decided to come back out here and take pictures from up high, rather than on the ground. She wasn’t going to be worried about it, because she didn’t worry about much, really; she was a relatively serious person, sure, at least until you knew her well, when she was incredibly giggly, but that didn’t mean that she worried over every little thing. She nodded in reply, looking over at the guy and smiling; she wasn’t good with strangers, wasn’t very talkative, but one person was better than being inside with the entire crowd, and hey, he was kind of good looking. People thought that Akemi didn’t notice things like that, because she knew nothing about sex and was generally indifferent to the idea of having a boyfriend, but she noticed if someone was cute, and he was. It made the company kind of nice, even if she looked at the ground for a minute, hoping she wasn’t blushing. “My friends brought me,” she agreed, and it probably was that obvious, given that she was the only person not inside. She shrugged, shaking her head. “I’ve been to a lot. I always end up doing this. I...don’t dance, and I don’t like crowds.”

[ADRIAN MORGAN]

I'LL WAIT HERE, YOU'RE CRAZY

THOSE VICIOUS STREETS ARE FILLED WITH STRAYS

›phony people come to pray. look at all of them beg to stay. phony people come to pray.‹

Being quiet and alone didn’t happen a lot for Adrian. While he could sit at home, play video games or browse the internet by himself without being too bored, eventually he had to go out. He always thrived in crowds. He was better in social situations than he was by himself. Parties were distracting. The life outside of his apartment didn’t really give him any time to think about anything else. There was less to worry about. When it was quiet, his brain was given a free pass to wander. While he tried not to think that he was really brooding type, he didn’t always think about things that cheered him up or made him happy in the least. If anything, he loathed where his mind wandered sometimes. He didn’t want to think about the future or the past. And so instead of sitting alone all of the time, he tended either get himself into trouble or get someone else into an equal amount. He was good at influencing people into what they normally wouldn’t do, or sometimes what they would do but just didn’t have a push to go do it. To him, it was usually in the spirit of having a good time. When it came to drugs, it put money in his pocket. Not that they couldn’t be used to relax or have a good time. They could. And some people really looked like they needed it. He didn’t know why anyone wanted to go through life tense and full of worry all the time. Sometimes it was better to calm the fuck down and have a good time, regardless of what your normal inhibitions would be. Some people were wound too tightly; that was just a fact and sometimes Adrian was able to pull people out of that.

It wasn’t to say that just because they weren’t a partier that they sucked or anything. There were people who got their fun in different ways from him. He might not understand it, but he wasn’t going to stand back and judge it either. If someone had fun being all alone, reading a book, then so be it. He wasn’t going to say anything bad about it. He might not get it or rouse the same kind of fun from it, but other people didn’t find partying and loud rooms fun either. Just because he didn’t quite get it didn’t mean that he thought less of it really. Although, there were people out there that he thought were senselessly boring and he wouldn’t have had any fun with them if he tried. That didn’t count in every person he ever met that didn’t feel like hanging out with the rest of the party. People could be interesting without wanting to get plastered enough to cling to anyone with two arms. Not that he didn’t have those nights. Because, he had plenty where he was too drunk to give a damn and woke up with people he probably didn’t want to wake up anywhere close to. But, such was life. Not all parties ended how he wanted them to, but most were good. And he didn’t go away feeling like it sucked too overwhelmingly so. And while he was okay inside, he didn’t see a problem talking to the only person that was hanging out outside of the party. “Really?” It did surprise him a little that she’d been to many, knowing she didn’t like them. “Why do you keep letting them drag you?” He asked, figuring that if it were his friends and they dragged him somewhere he didn’t like, he’d eventually stand his ground and stubbornly hang back because he’d rather do something he liked, even if it varied from their idea of fun. Luckily for him, however, most of his friends were into the exact same thing that he was.

made by cupcakesss of Caution 2.0

[♔ AKEMI SATO]

WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

Akemi didn't know why she had never gotten sucked into the partying culture of college, why she had never seen the appeal of getting drunk or high; sure, there was a part of it that came from her parents' beliefs, and she'd only been allowed to attend the quiet sort of party in high school, she'd never been allowed to drink or smoke, and even though it had never been explicitly said, she knew that they were things that would have disappointed them – and that was the last thing that Mimi wanted to do, especially now that she had thrown away their dreams and decided not to become a doctor even though she was more than capable of doing so. That just wasn't who she was, and it had gotten to the point where she hadn't been able to keep on lying about what it was she wanted to do with her life; she didn't want to be a doctor, she wanted to spend more time with her camera, she wanted to create art and capture people's lives on film, and she couldn't do that if she was working fifteen hour shifts all of the time. She might have been a good doctor, but she never would have loved it, not like she loved photography. But when it came to parties...it just wasn't who she was. She knew that she was naïve, sometimes, people told her that, she knew that there were a whole ton of jokes around that she just didn't get, because she generally needed things to be stated clearly, because sarcasm was something that she didn't understand, but getting drunk, having sex...the idea of those scared her. She wanted to be in control of her own body, and she'd seen enough drunk people to know that that never happened, and the idea of getting naked with someone, of doing...things? Honestly, she didn't see the appeal. She'd never even been kissed, and it wasn't that she didn't find people attractive, because she did, merely that she had no idea what happened when things got further than that. It wasn't something she'd ever been taught, and she'd not picked up on subtle hints like other people seemed to. She didn't feel like she was missing out on anything, either; her friends complained that they didn't have boyfriend, or that they were in a dry spell that had been going on for 'six fucking months now, Mimi!' but she didn't understand why that was a problem – and it had been raining, because the weather was pretty bad lately, so she didn't get the whole dry spell thing either. Akemi had enough in her life without needing a boyfriend too, and she never even got it when they flirted with her; her friends would giggle and tell her that that boy had been totally checking her out, and she didn't understand why they'd do that, or what they saw in her when her friends were right there too. It wasn't that she thought she was ugly, because she didn't, but merely that they were so much more outgoing, so much more comfortable talking to guys than she was. Or talking to people in general, really, given that she was the least social person on the planet and conversation always seemed to be so awkward when she was around. Like now; this guy seemed perfectly nice, and he wasn't so drunk that he was saying things that made her uncomfortable, either, which was always a benefit. She'd not failed to notice that he was hot, which made her wonder what he was doing out here with her instead of in there with girls who'd dance with him, but if anything, that was going to make the conversation more stilted than anything else, and she was already feeling like the most awkward person on the planet. She nodded, and then shrugged. “They're my friends. I want to do things with them,” she replied, even though she was clearly standing out here, and not doing things with them. “I just...don't like parties.”

[ADRIAN MORGAN]

I'LL WAIT HERE, YOU'RE CRAZY

THOSE VICIOUS STREETS ARE FILLED WITH STRAYS

›phony people come to pray. look at all of them beg to stay. phony people come to pray.‹

Sex, drugs and partying had always been appealing to Adrian. It was a way of escape and of having a good time without having to worry about anything else. It was hard for his life to suck if he was at a party or in someone’s bed. It really wasn’t easy to focus on anything else if there was a good time to be had. He liked being lifted up as much as the next person and he never saw any real stigma around it. Sure, a lot of people did, but fuck them. He knew how to have a good time. It didn’t mean that he thought the other people who weren’t into it sucked necessarily. They didn’t, not really. Though, he didn’t always get along with them because he differed so much and he couldn’t always convince them to loosen up and have a good time. But, he wasn’t going to sit back and judge them if they left him the hell alone about his choices. And if he wanted to make his cash through drugs and party and have sex with anyone he wanted, then that was his choice to do it. He didn’t see how it was anyone else’s business to think less of him. He didn’t always understand why someone might think that curling up with a good book was better than being at a party where it was loud and people to interact with. He wasn’t a big fan of that much quiet. And he liked this atmosphere more than being bored in his apartment. If he wanted, he could have probably gone back inside and joined in with the rest of the crowd. It wouldn’t be hard to dance or to find someone to hook up with. Hell, he could even be trying to get people hooked into giving him money. But, that wasn’t where he was right now and he didn’t mind hanging out outside the party. It would continue to be there later.

He was curious about the girl out there, not to mention, if she was having trouble relaxing, he could have given her a hand with that. Adrian had ways. Of course, he thought getting someone stoned was probably the best way to do that. At least when he was feeling a little tense, it worked for him. The girl seemed nice, just completely out of place. There were definitely places he would have felt out of place at too, but he could never imagine going to those places. He didn’t want to put himself in that kind of situation to be uncomfortable and alone. She didn’t look like she was having a good time out there and if she was there for her friends, well, he didn’t see any of them with her right now. It looked kind of sucky. So, why not hang out a little? He didn’t think that she would be horrible company. And of course she was hot. He didn’t miss that. It was hard not to notice that, really. When she said that she wanted to do things with them, he looked over the balcony a moment, then back at her. “But they aren’t even out here doing things.” Adrian said, because it seemed like her plan to do things with her friends wasn’t working out. If he went to a party to hang out with someone, usually he’d be sticking around them, but he imagined they were probably having a good time inside. “But you’ve gotta have other things in common, right?” He asked, because it seemed weird to not like parties but to come anyway. Usually there had to be some compromise in what to do when people weren’t interested in the same thing. It was a little weird to him not to be doing exactly what he wanted. He was stubborn when it came to doing something he didn’t want to. Usually, he found ways to avoid it if he really didn’t want to be involved in something. And had he hated parties, he wouldn’t go to them. But, he loved them, so it wasn’t like he was going to be disappearing from the party scene anytime soon.

made by cupcakesss of Caution 2.0

[♔ AKEMI SATO]

WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

Akemi couldn't have been more out of place here if she'd tried, really. It wasn't the way that she looked, particularly, so much as the way that she acted; she went shopping with her friends, she got their approval on outfits, and sure, she didn't care most of the time, but when it came to parties, her roommate always told her that she looked too stuffy and buttoned up and that she needed to wear a shorter skirt, or a lower cut top. Mimi didn't understand why letting people see her breasts or her ass would do anything, since she spent the entire time standing in a corner anyway (and she could always hear her mom's voice in her head, telling her off for dressing like a slut), but her friends seemed better informed about what one was supposed to wear to a party than she was. She generally just stood around watching, and she wasn't really paying attention to the things that the girls were wearing. It was hard to see, anyway, when they were all on a dance floor in the half-light, bodies close together. Was that dancing? She didn't know; she'd never really danced, but it all seemed like a lot of...grinding. She was wearing a dress today, one that Jamie had picked out for her, lower cut than she was really comfortable with, but at least it actually reached her thighs, which was more than could be said for the things that her friends were wearing, although she was a little chilly now that she'd been standing out here a while, her arms coming to wrap around herself to keep warm; she should have brought a jacket, but of course her friends hadn't thought that she'd need one, since they were inside dancing. Oh well; she might be a little shivery, but she could survive. It wasn't the worst thing in the world. It was better than being inside, anyway, and maybe she needed to stop coming to things like this just because her friends were going, but the trip down had been fun, and she wanted to hang out with them. It wasn't that she was a doormat, nobody would have forced her to come if she'd insisted that she didn't want to, but didn't everybody do things they didn't really want to do sometimes, just so that they could do something with their friends. Her friends meant a lot to her, after all, and Akemi wanted to spend as much time with them as she possibly could. That was no secret, and maybe they weren't out here with her, right now – she couldn't even see them when she looked back inside – but they'd still be able to talk about this party tomorrow...even though Mimi would be considerably less hungover and wouldn't have woken up in some stranger's bed. That was better, she thought. And she didn't mind; it wasn't fun for her, she spent the entire night watching people dance and not even realising that guys had been trying to flirt with her until half an hour later, when they were dancing too close to some other girl, but she didn't mind it, either. She shrugged, and he was right, of course, but they were having fun. She wasn't going to make them be bored just so that they could keep her company. “It's okay,” she said, and sure, it was kind of lonely, but better to be out here alone than in there. “I prefer it out here.” She nodded. “Sure, lots.” There were a lot of reasons why her friends were her friends, but a common love of parties wasn't one of them – she smiled up at the guy (even in heels, she was shorter), trying to reassure him that she was okay. “Why are you out here?”

[ADRIAN MORGAN]

I'LL WAIT HERE, YOU'RE CRAZY

THOSE VICIOUS STREETS ARE FILLED WITH STRAYS

›phony people come to pray. look at all of them beg to stay. phony people come to pray.‹

It was easy to tell when someone didn’t belong here. A lot of people just blended right in and he probably wouldn’t recognize one face from another after a while. He wound up talking to a lot of people and hell, even slept with more than he would remember later on. He didn’t always remember the people he slept with, whether it was because he was completely drunk, high or just not that into them, it didn’t matter. Adrian didn’t tend to get sentimental and he wasn’t going to be bummed if he didn’t remember someone the next day. Nor did he ever feel bad if someone didn’t recognize him after they met before. The only time that pissed him off was when they owed him money. Because while he might not remember every person he fucked, he did remember who bought from him and who owed him. And those were the people he would track down and make damn sure they paid. Most of the time that involved sending someone else after them, because it was easier that way. He could fight himself, sure. But, it risked more and there were some guys that bought off him that were a hell of a lot bigger and while he could fight someone who was twice his size, he could also get his ass handed to him. He had been jumped before and had fights turn around when he was supposed to be doing the punching. Adrian was good in a fight, but there was always going to be somebody better and it was just easier if he had guys that were giant go around and rough people up if they didn’t give him his money. He didn’t know what the big deal was with people not paying—except that they were probably poor as fuck and couldn’t. Those people, he understood a little. He grew up with no money, after all and this was basically his steady source of income. It was the idiots with money that didn’t pay him, as if everyone had it to throw away. Adrian didn’t. He needed the money he demanded.

Looking over at Akemi, it wasn’t hard to tell she wasn’t the partying type and he still didn’t understand why she was there. Even if she wanted to be around her friends, they were probably inside having a good time. But, who knew if that was a good time for her? Adrian had no problem getting wasted and letting someone in barely any clothes grind all over him. Actually, that was generally pretty hot. He stuffed his hands into his coat pockets while he looked over her a second. “Aren’t you cold?” He asked, because he figured she might be. It was a little chilly outside and while most girls were wearing even less than she was, they were inside where it was a lot warmer than it was out here. “It’s a little weird to come to a party to be outside,” he didn’t say it judgingly, however, almost teasing, but not quite. It actually was strange, but not something that he cared that much about. “That’s good.” But when she asked why he was out there, he shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t have much of a reason and it definitely wasn’t the same as her reasoning for it. “I just felt like coming outside for a bit, that’s all. It’s fucking hot in there” And it did happen to get pretty warm if you were constantly around other people. He didn’t mind going outside and since there was someone else out there, he didn’t feel like going in so quickly. “You ever think of getting something to relax a bit?” He asked, since if shyness or tension was a problem, he had ways to absolve that and he figured he might as well try to slip it into conversation without completely scaring the girl off.

made by cupcakesss of Caution 2.0

[♔ AKEMI SATO]

WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

Akemi was observant; she was shy, and she often stood in a corner watching things go on without actually participating in them, it made sense, really, that she was. She spotted things that other people didn't notice, and she remembered faces, even if she didn't know people's names. She didn't remember every person at a party or anything like that, she wasn't some kind of crazy genius in that respect, but if it was a smaller gathering, or someone she spoke to just a couple of times, or who sat near her in the lecture halls then yes, she was likely to recognise them, even if they probably would never have a clue who she was. She was quiet, invisible almost; people didn't notice her, and she didn't do anything to change that, because she was quite happy being unnoticed, most of the time. She had her friends, she wasn't lonely, she didn't crave attention. It worked well for her. It got awkward sometimes, though – that was easily done, of course, since a lot of situations got awkward around her, when she didn't know what to say or let a silence linger on too long – when she remembered someone vividly, and they didn't have the faintest idea who she was. She remembered people from her childhood, from high school, and however much they might have claimed to keep in touch, nobody really knew what their high school friends were doing outside of what was posted on Facebook, now. It might only have been a couple of years, but everyone moved on with their lives. She didn't mind that; she had no issue with the fact that she was quieter, or that people didn't really remember her because she didn't make much of an impression. That just was how she was, and she was used to everyone choosing her louder, more confident, prettier friends over her. She was happier with a book, anyway – and that wasn't her being bitter about it, it was just a fact. No-one was really going to come out here just to hit on her, after all—which was good, because Akemi tended not to recognise when people were hitting on her and she didn't know the first thing about flirting, but they'd go for the girls who were already dancing; some guys might have asked her to dance while she was still inside, but she didn't expect it now. She didn't want it, even; she didn't dance, didn't see the appeal in rubbing herself against some guy. Was that meant to be fun? And how was it sexy? She didn't understand, but people seemed to like it, because it was a permanent fixture, whatever party they ended up dragging her to. No, thanks. She'd stay out here, and hey, this guy seemed nice. She was a little awkward, sure, but no more than she was with any new person, and she'd tried to get over that, over the years, but it just didn't seem to happen. She was doomed to be awkward and shy in social situations for the rest of her life, it seemed. “Yeah, I am a bit,” she admitted, and it was chilly out here in just her dress; she should have thought this through and brought a jacket, really, but she hadn't realise it would be so cold – or even that there'd be a balcony at all. If she'd just been standing in a corner of the room, she wouldn't have needed a jacket in the slightest. “I don't mind.” She shrugged; it was pretty out here, and she was used to it. She didn't even mind that she'd been dragged out to do nothing. Maybe she could have been more productive if she'd stayed at home, but the roadtrip down had been fun, at least. She frowned at the question, not quite sure what he was referring to. “Something?” she repeated...did he mean pills? She wasn't on anxiety tablets, she was just...shy.

[ADRIAN MORGAN]

I'LL WAIT HERE, YOU'RE CRAZY

THOSE VICIOUS STREETS ARE FILLED WITH STRAYS

›phony people come to pray. look at all of them beg to stay. phony people come to pray.‹

He didn’t always pay attention to someone if it looked like they weren’t fitting in. Inside, he probably wouldn’t have noticed if someone was lurking in a corner, because he was too busy being a part of the party. He might, eventually, and he could approach them to see if they wanted something to ease them in a little better, but other than that, it was easy for some people to turn invisible when you were interested in being a part of the crowd. And Adrian was absolutely a loud personality type. He didn’t like to be quiet and to himself. As many trust issues as he had and as much as he didn’t have faith in most people, he really didn’t like to be alone. He became lonely and bored easily and he hated to be surrounded in silence. Sure, there were times when he was in his apartment and he enjoyed being by himself. He liked the type of quiet that he created and could either listen to music or play video games to take up time. But, that wasn’t the same as being alone all of the time. When he had a choice between being by himself or being at a party, he would choose a party. That’s where he liked to be. It was hard to think about anything else when there was a party going on. It was easy to get lost in that without having to think about whether or not his life sucked. Because, it really didn’t suck, did it? His life was okay. He got by and he knew how to have a good time, Besides, there was almost always a party around and whose life could be that sucky when they were at a party? His couldn’t be, not really. And he was happy to keep it that way.

What he didn’t quite understand was how people wound up there that didn’t want to be. He didn’t know why Akemi would go and not be with her friends, but remain outside when she obviously didn’t quite belong in that scene. But, she did seem nice and he had noticed her easy enough when he walked out there. She looked like she could use help relaxing, really. He had nothing against people who weren’t like him, although he seemed to click a little easier with outgoing people, because they didn’t get awkward around him. Now, as far as people who were too closely like him, he tended to clash a lot worse. Because he could be a dick and when someone was a dick back, it just got worse. “Do you want a coat or something?” He offered, to be friendly. It was kind of chilled out there and she wasn’t really dressed to be outside. Though he figured she would be more than warm enough if she was inside. It was pretty hot in there; as it often was during a party. It never stayed cool when there were a lot of bodies around, and most of which that were in very close confines. “Well, if you don’t mind, then I guess that’s okay.” When she questioned the something, he paused for a moment of consideration. He was trying to decipher how he should go about that without being too blunt and potentially chasing her off quickly. “Yeah, you know, something. To help you unwind and get comfortable?” Usually influences like that could help take a shy person and make them a far reach from it. So, he didn’t think it would hurt to try to ask if she might want something. He could help make the party more enjoyable.

made by cupcakesss of Caution 2.0

[♔ AKEMI SATO]

WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

It genuinely didn't bother Akemi that she was out here on her own; she might have preferred to be at home, or hanging with her friends somewhere that quieter, and just them, but she didn't mind coming out with them. It had been fun in the car, and they'd probably all be hungover when they went back tomorrow, but that was okay, too. She wouldn't be, because she didn't drink – that was just a choice that she made, it wasn't anything to do with being religious or even her parents' influence (in Japan, after all, she was of age, even if she wasn't here yet) but just that she didn't see the appeal in getting drunk and blacking out and waking up feeling like death. She didn't understand why anybody would want to do that, and the idea of losing her inhibitions kind of scared her. Oh, she knew that she was somewhat repressed, she knew that she definitely had inhibitions to lose, but if that happened, if she ended up dancing on a table or making out with some guy or something, then that wouldn't be her. She'd never been kissed before, she didn't want the first time that happened to be when she was so drunk she wouldn't remember it; she wasn't necessarily waiting for true love or the guy she'd marry or anything like that, but just...waiting for it to feel like the right thing to do. She didn't know when that would be, but she probably didn't have to worry about it, since she'd gotten to twenty and nobody had felt like kissing her. She wasn't sure she'd know what to do if they did, quite honestly; what did you do, how did it work? She was terrified of getting it wrong and making someone who seemed to like her never want to speak to her again, because it wasn't like there was a whole line of boys waiting to talk to her. Sure, a couple of them had asked her to dance while she'd still been inside, but that was just because she was at a party, not because she was pretty enough for them to want to date. It wasn't that Akemi thought she was ugly or hated her body, because she didn't; she wasn't hideous, she had big eyes and she really liked her hair, and she was so tiny that she never had to worry about getting fat, even with the fact that she ended up eating cupcakes a lot, since she spent half her time baking them. She was comfortable in the clothes that she chose to wear, and sure, she wasn't the fittest person in the world, she didn't spend a long time at the gym or anything, but she wasn't unhappy with her fitness levels or anything, she didn't struggle to wander around campus or get up a couple of flights of stairs. She just...wasn't the sort of girl that guys looked at and found to be hot. She was the one that got passed over in favour of the tall, leggy blonde, or something, because come on, why were they going to pick her over someone like her roommate? Akemi didn't think that they would, and that was obvious in the fact that Jamie had more boyfriends than conversations Mimi had even had with a boy. Her roommate might not have been blonde, but she was still clearly the sort of person that guys wanted to date. She'd overheard people say that guys liked Asian girls, once, but she'd not seen any evidence about that herself. It wasn't like she wanted them to be into her, she wouldn't have known what to do, anyway. “Oh, I left mine at home,” she said, because yeah, she was cold – she rubbed her arms a little to warm them up, and made a mental note that coming to a party in a skimpy dress without a jacket was a bad idea – but she didn't have a coat to put on. She nodded, frowning a little as he tried to explain what he'd meant. She still didn't get it. What was there that could get her to relax – and it wasn't like she was super stressed, anyway. “What kind of something?”

[ADRIAN MORGAN]

I'LL WAIT HERE, YOU'RE CRAZY

THOSE VICIOUS STREETS ARE FILLED WITH STRAYS

›phony people come to pray. look at all of them beg to stay. phony people come to pray.‹

Adrian had no problem with throwing away inhibition for a little while. It was better than being restricted by his better judgment constantly. Now, it wasn’t that he was that wasted all of the time, because he wasn’t. He couldn’t be and continue to make money. Like most dealers, he didn’t even do a lot of his product. Some of it, he took part in, but he was close enough to people who were grappling with huge addictions and he watched his mother kill herself with it and so he wasn’t going to be an idiot. He was a dealer, not an addict. And when it came to alcohol, then he could go to town with it. He didn’t care if he woke up with someone that he never saw in his life. A lot of the people he wound up with, he didn’t know later on anyway. As long as he had a good time, he didn’t care who he woke up next to. He didn’t have any strong desire to keep control. He wanted to have some, naturally. Adrian didn’t want his life to be out of control and he tried to keep a hand on it. But, that didn’t mean he needed to plan out every minute or not take risks. He wanted to have a good time and sometimes that meant letting a different substance take over. He had no problem with that, nor did he have a problem suggesting it to someone else. Of course, he sometimes tended to lure people into harder drugs, knowing full well that he could get them addicted and that then he would have another source of money. It’s not what he was trying to do here, but it wasn’t something that should have come as a surprise to anyone that knew where his income really came from.

With Akemi, he just wanted to help her loosen up. She seemed like a nice girl; totally out of place, but nice. He had nothing against her, despite their obvious differences. She just wasn’t the partying type and he wasn’t looking to transform her suddenly into one. Although, he would like to see her let go and see what kind of fun she could have. He just wasn’t there looking for money. It was a party; she should be able to have a good time. Adrian might not have understood why she decided to come if she really didn’t like it, but she was here, so he wasn’t going to push the questions. If she wanted to show up to a party with her friends but spend her time outside, then that was her thing. If she didn’t mind him hanging out with her though, then he would hang out a little longer. He didn’t think that it would hurt anything. She seemed nice enough. He didn’t see a lot of nice girls at parties like this. But, when he did, oftentimes, they really did stand out. “I’ve got one, if you want. I don’t get cold easy.” He offered, and he didn’t mind taking his coat off. He didn’t have anything incriminating in it. Any drug on him was in his pants pocket, because he learned the hard way not to keep it in his coat. Usually, at parties, he tended to take off his coat eventually, because it was usually too warm inside for one. And when that happened, there had been one instance where someone decided to rip him off for everything he had in his pockets. Missing drugs and money could spell out a hell of a lot of trouble for him. He had someone to answer to too. Of course, his brother had managed to save his ass from what could have been a bad incident, but he wasn’t going to risk that happening twice and kept things a lot closer than he used to. He probably should have been smart enough to begin with. He was a little surprised that she wasn’t catching onto what the something was. Most people, he figured, would have figured out he was probably referring to pot pretty quick. “You ever smoke before?” Oh well, he was patient. Sometimes.

made by cupcakesss of Caution 2.0

[♔ AKEMI SATO]

WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

Akemi didn't really see the need to drink in order to have fun, honestly. She got that these people could probably have fun sober too, it just...wasn't her thing, and she was always going to be the quieter sort. Maybe she should have drunk a little, found out what she was like when she had that in her system, but she didn't really see why she would want to; she didn't mind her inhibitions, and yeah, she was shy, cripplingly so sometimes, but at the same time, at least she was in control of what she was doing, and to have that all just disappear, she didn't know what she would do and she didn't want to end up doing something that she'd regret. Sure, perhaps she was too safe, sometimes, Mimi knew that she could be accused of that, but at least she was comfortable, at least she didn't end up with a ton of regrets. And she was happy doing the things that she knew she was comfortable with. Perhaps nobody ever ended up trying something new if they stayed in their comfort zone, but honestly, she was okay with that. She liked her life, she liked her hobbies and her friends and the things that she did with them, and okay, so maybe they liked parties where she didn't, or something, but ultimately, they still got on extremely well, she still loved spending time with them, which was why she let them drag her out here just so that she could stand on a balcony shivering all evening. Perhaps she should have brought a book, or something; honestly, Akemi just wished that she'd brought her camera, because the view was spectacular, as the New York skyline often was, and to be able to record that would have been nice. But no matter; she'd get other chances, she knew that. And she wasn't uncomfortable out here. She wasn't even unhappy with the company, however awkward the conversation might have been. He seemed like a really nice guy, since he was still talking to her and hadn't just gotten bored and gone back inside, and she didn't mind in the slightest. People always thought that she didn't notice when a guy was good looking, because she knew so little about sex, but that wasn't true in the slightest. She noticed, she just didn't know what to do with that information, so she stored it away and pretended like she wasn't aware, because it was easier for her to figure out how she was supposed to act, that way. This guy was extremely good looking, of course Akemi had noticed that, but...she wasn't like the other girls here, she couldn't go and dance with him, she certainly couldn't just kiss him, or anything of the sort, and so she would just pretend that she hadn't noticed, because what else was there to do? “Oh, um, if you're sure you won't get cold,” she said hesitantly; she didn't want him to be freezing because he'd given her his coat, or anything like that, after all, because that would have been horrible. She'd have felt bad for a while, even if she never saw him again. “I'm Akemi, by the way,” she added, because if he was giving her his coat, she kind of thought that he should know her name. She frowned, shaking her head. “My roommate does sometimes, but it makes me cough.” And cigarettes smelt funny too; they were even less her thing than drinking was.

[ADRIAN MORGAN]

I'LL WAIT HERE, YOU'RE CRAZY

THOSE VICIOUS STREETS ARE FILLED WITH STRAYS

›phony people come to pray. look at all of them beg to stay. phony people come to pray.‹

Sobriety was really overrated half of the time. He appreciated the control, but not too much all of the time. It felt good not to think about anything except for partying and losing every ounce of inhibition that he had. It wasn’t that he had a lot of it to begin with, given that he didn’t need the loosening up. But, by no means was he against being drunk, because there were days when it felt better to be than it was to be sober. And in a party atmosphere, unless he needed to keep himself clean for the night, he would rather mix up with the rest of the group and lose the control that he normally had. It didn’t mean that he wanted to be dependent or constantly out of control, because he didn’t. He never wanted to take a trip down that path. But, he had to have a little fun sometimes. It wasn’t to say that the only fun that could be had was while he was drunk. That was kind of a ridiculous thought. He could do a lot of things without alcohol or drugs being involved. It just so happened that at a party, it was usually a lot more fun to be involved in it. He didn’t quite understand people that never got drunk or never decided to have fun, even if it risked losing hang-ups for a night. He wasn’t going to go out of his way to judge them and if they wanted to live their lives that way, then so be it. But, he didn’t think that it was necessary to constantly be like that. Honestly, he didn’t think that most people needed to be wound as tightly as they were. No matter what anyone said to counter that, a lot of people were a little too stiff.

Though, just because someone didn’t want to party or didn’t feel comfortable in that atmosphere didn’t mean that they had a stick up their ass. He didn’t think that, in the least bit. There were other ways to have fun and just because someone else had a different idea of it didn’t mean that they were wrong or that he was right. It was just a difference of opinion. And while he didn’t see eye to eye with Akemi on coming to a party unless she was going to enjoy herself, he didn’t think less of her at all. In fact, she seemed nice and he was enjoying the company even if it was a lot different than the rest of the company he could have been mingling with inside of the party. “I won’t be, I’m fine.” He assured her, with a shrug of his shoulders. The cold didn’t bother him at all. It wasn’t that he really liked being cold over warm, but he had a high tolerance to it and he was still overdressed in comparison to her, so it wasn’t going to negatively affect him. With that, he pulled off his coat and held it out for her. “I’m Adrian.” Automatically, Adrian could figure that she was talking about cigarettes. That was what he figured she would jump to, but he only nodded. “Anything more than cigarettes?” He asked, still not sure if he could even talk her into anything. In the long run, it wouldn’t matter either way, but he thought it would be better if she loosened up a little to the party. It couldn’t be fun being that uncomfortable with what was happening inside and still being stuck there.

made by cupcakesss of Caution 2.0