George thought the party so far had met his expectations; that is, it was disappointing.

He probably got there too early. There were lots of people he didn't know, many of them were already tipsy.

Wonder what they've been drinking. Probs hard apple cider.

He heard the door and walked over, hoping it was someone he knew.

"TRICK OR TREAT!" It was Bad and an unenthusiastic Skeppy.

"HEY George! Is Clay here yet?"

"No," George let them inside. "I was early; plus it's normal for Clay to lose track of time. He gets distracted easily."

"Yeah, I'm used to that," said Skeppy.

"OOOH, Skeppy let's go look at everyone's costumes!"

"Wait-" George stopped Bad- "I haven't looked at your guy's yet."

"Oh yeah do you like mine?" Bad spun around.

He was decked out in an elaborate costume with black clothes and red stripes; he had a black cloak with the hood over his head and two little devil horns poking out under a halo. He also had tiny wings and a little pointed tail.

George was impressed. "Did you make it yourself?"

"Yeah I spent loads of time on it. BUT IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Look, I have a bandana!"

"And a sword," Skeppy added.

"Yeah! I'll slice you up!" Bad pulled the fake sword off his back and swung it around, kicking at Skeppy with his brown combat boots.

"HI-YA!"

"BAD STOP OMG you look like a plushie toy."

"You're one to talk." Bad put his sword away and put his hands on his hips.

Skeppy was in a duckling onesie.

"That's not the point AND YOU MADE ME THIS!"

"YEAH BECAUSE I THOUGHT YOU'D APPRECIATE MY HARD WORK!"

These guys actually can't go five minutes without shouting at each other.

Skeppy's onesie actually looked really good, especially since it was made by Bad. He must be good at sewing and fabric stuff.

Bad and Skeppy finally stopped yelling at each other and Bad turned back to George.

"What are you dressed as?"

"Yeah nice shoes."

"Oh." George looked down at himself. He was wearing jeans and a light blue shirt with his glasses from Dream. He had thrown in some tall black boots last minute to make it more interesting.

He shrugged. "I don't know, I kinda just tossed stuff together."

"It works pretty well actually." George smiled at Bad's compliment.

"Yeah you look fabulous come on let's go drink something." Skeppy pulled Bad towards the kitchen and George followed; he didn't have anything else to do.

Bad looked around as they walked through the rooms. "It looks like there are a lot of sports guys here."

"WHat? Why do you point that out?"

"Nothing, I just don't know a lot of people."

"Whatever." Skeppy sped up. He muttered under his breath, "why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?"

"Here it is." They got to the kitchen. There were a bunch of drinks on the counter with loads of glasses and red plastic cups plus like 50 Jell-O shots in one corner.

Skeppy just grabbed something random. "You want anything, Bad?"

"You aren't getting alcohol, are you Skeppy?"

"No, it's apple cider," Skeppy said sarcastically. "It's fine Bad, I have like a super high tolerance. You want anything?"

"No, I'm just having water and apple juice. I have, like, no tolerance for that stuff."

"I'll have something." George just wanted something to do with his hands.

"What do you want?" Skeppy asked.

"Uhhh."

I can't tell them apart.

"Are you a bartender now Skeppy?" Bad asked.

"Yeah, these are gross diorite cabinets, wait why is there a tv there, wait nevermind. Here George try this."

"Ok." George took the cup.

It smells weird.

He took a sip.

Bleh.

"Great right?" Skep smiled at him. "Most of these taste terrible, but I bet Techno has some expensive stuff somewhere... Well, we can explore later."

"Hey where's a6d?" Bad asked suddenly.

"OH FUCK! A6D!" Skeppy facepalmed.

"What?" George asked.

"IM GOING TO KILL YOU SKEPPY! TU ES MORT!" a French voice shouted from behind them.

"RUN!"

Skeppy clung to Bad and took off, ignoring his "WHHAAAAAA????"

Before George had time to react, a6d appeared in the kitchen, panting and looking around for Skeppy.

"SKEPPY IDIOT NOM DE DIEU DE PUTAIN DE BORDEL DE MERDE DE SALOPERIE DE CONNARD!"

He seems upset.

"A6d you good?"

"SKEPPY FORGOT ABOUT ME! He was supposed to pick me up in his car but I had to ride my bike!"

"Oh, I'm sorry."

George felt bad for a6d. He was a little curious about his costume tho. He was wearing his favorite shirt with ripped black pants and he had curving black horns and cheap black wings unlike Bad's white ones.

"I didn't think you'd dress up."

"Yeah well." A6d walked over to the counter and took a shot before turning back to George. "Bad would have scolded me if I did nothing."

He looked over George. "Nice shoes. Is Clay here yet?"

George rolled his eyes. "No."

"Ok, cool. I'm going to kill Skeppy now, see you later."

"Bye."

George was alone in the kitchen. Then some random guys came in and he left to wander around. "Panic Room" by Au/Ra was playing.

A couple of minutes and Sapnap crashed into him.

"AYYYYY GEORGIE PORGIE!"

George ignored Sapnap's awful British accent impression and held him upright. "Hi! You okay?"

"YEAH I'm always vibin, right Brad?" He turned to some random soccer guy.

"BUFFALO CLUB!"

"AYYYY-" Sapnap chugged the rest of his drink- "FUCK YOU BRAD!"

Brad gave him the middle finger and chugged his own drink then threw the cup at him.

It hit George. In the face, really?

"YOU THROW LIKE YOUR MOM!"

"OK- bye Chad." George pulled Sapnap away from him. "You need some water."

"Yeah, I need to refill this."

"Yeah, no. I'll get you a new one."

"Ok."

They went back to the kitchen and walked in on something.

"Charlie you can't have all 50 Jell-O shots in a row!"

"Like hell I can't Grizz. Schlatt watch this!"

Actually I can get water from any sink.

George backed out with Sapnap and looked for a bathroom, followed by loud slurping noises and then projectile vomiting. "THATS WHY THEY CALL ME SLIME!"

He got Sapnap some water and he seemed fine, then he poked George's shoulder. "Have you seen Clay?"

"No. Why does everyone think I know when he's coming?"

"He's right there."

Oop-

Yep, he was standing with some soccer guys, talking and bobbing their heads to the music. "Trouble" by Valerie Broussard.

Their eyes met across the room. Dream smiled.

George made his way over, half-forgetting about Sapnap.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Great job at the game."

"Thanks, I had my team."

"Nice mask."

Clay laughed. It was a paper plate with a hastily drawn smiley face.

"It was kinda last minute. I like your costume, though."

George self-consciously put a hand on the glasses. "Yeah, mine was last minute as well."

"Well you still look good in it."

"Thanks."

Fuck, I'm blushing.

"Buffalo Club." George flinched. It was Techno.

George had the urge to run away but he ignored his pounding heart and looked him in the face; he was smiling.

"What?"

"Hey, Techno. You know George right?" Clay said.

"Of course."

"Oh yeah, George, Buffalo Club means you have to chug your drink when you hold it in your left hand."

"Oh. OK."

Bleh. Still doesn't taste very good.

He finished it off, luckily there wasn't that much. Then he eyed Techno. He was wearing a crown and a white button down shirt with a red coat or robe thing lined with white fur draped over his arm, probably because it was so hot in the room. He was casual and confident like always and gave no clue that he knew George as anything other than an acquaintance. Like he wasn't his bitch.

I need another drink actually.

Techno turned to Clay. "Clay, have you met the other players from Vurb's school?"

"No, I haven't. Did they all come?"

"You guys go ahead," George said. "I'll catch up with you later Clay."

"You sure? I could come with you."

"Yeah, I'll see you later."

He walked away, thinking, I hope that guy didn't puke into all the drinks.

(1.4k words)