reason to breathe | lance

[caleb]

Caleb had been bouncing around the houses of acquaintances for a while now, sleeping around on what people had declared "sexual visas." He was in full whore mode, just like every summer. Of course, he wasn't sleeping with someone different every night, because he had standards and feared all kinds of disease, but it was enough that people could safely assume that if he asked to crash, they were getting payed in sexual favors. It was something that he loved and hated at the same time. Because now people had come to expect him to put out no matter what, and some nights he just wanted to sleep and recover from his several-day long hangover. That was the one perk of summer - there were parties almost every night, and if you knew the right people, you could just spend several weeks drinking and living it up with different people every time. And Caleb obviously knew the right people.

So moving from room to room and seeming not to care about anyone at all, Caleb looked for his next target. He just needed to land the line "let's go back to your place" on one of them, and he was golden. And honestly, who could reject him? Sure, he was a little rusty, having been in a relationship for a little while, but his moves hadn't been forgotten. He still had his way with people, and he wasn't going to sleep outside tonight. The weather was terrible for that. It was pouring outside, and he couldn't sleep while being drenched with rain. That was how people got pneumonia, and he didn't want to get a disease that he associated with only ancient historical figures. That would have been sad. Like having polio or something. That would have made him a relic in his teens, and that was something that someone who lived as fast as Caleb did couldn't take.

Unfortunately, the talent here wasn't very good tonight. The girls were dogs. And there wasn't much chance of him sleeping with any of the boys either. He wasn't drunk enough to abandon his standards, and he had pretty high standards that he wouldn't get over, no matter what his sleeping arrangement may have been. Hell, he'd sleep at the party if he wasn't afraid of getting dicks drawn all over his face. Phallic imagery was common among guys who brought sharpies to parties, and it was too childish even for Caleb. It just made people afraid to get too drunk at these things, and that was something that hindered Caleb's performance. He was all about taking advantage of the heavily inebriated, and if people were afraid of getting wasted, he didn't have the advantage that he normally lorded over people. It was just unbearable. Tonight was going to be a tough one, but he'd figure it out. Caleb was a smart kid, especially when it came to finding a bed for the night. Summer break was almost over, and he'd only spent one night outside thus far. This wouldn't be night two.

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[lancetrudel]

Summer vacation was the one time that Lance usually went into all out man whore mode. While he did have morals, and he did believe that there was some kind of emotional connection with sex, that all went out the window when he drank. He was a heavy weight usually, but a few shots of vodka and any morals he may have had at one time usually were nowhere to be found. He wasn't a huge drinker, at least not at parties, because he was usually the one hosting them. And he was pretty damn responsible, really. He always took peoples keys and never let them drive drunk. But tonight? No, tonight he was going balls out drunk. He had a designated driver, and his best mate, Caleb, was going to be there as well.

They were certainly the wingmen of the year.

Caleb brought him out of his shell a little bit, really. He had always been a party boy, but Caleb was about eight hundred and ninety two percent more than he was, and Lance respected him for that. what was not to respect? Caleb got more ass than most donkeys that he knew. And that was respect. He would be kind of scared to sleep around more than he did. Diseases and what not. And he believes in love. Someday he hopes that he will find a girl that makes his life complete, and he won't need multiple girls to fufill him. But that probably wouldn't come any time soon. He was only eighteen, after all. There was no need to rush about those things.

All in good time.

But tonight, he was going to get shit faced and party until he blacked out. That was the plan. Summer was almost over and he hadn't drank enough yet. He was probably drunker than he should have been this early in the party, but he was a fun drunk at least. There were not that many attractive girls here tonight, however. Which was mildly depressing. But the good thing about vodka, tequila, Jack Daniels, and whatever else he had taken shots of, was that it made even the most unnattractive girl totally fuckable. He was dancing with one right now. A decently pretty blonde who was by far even drunker than him. He imagined had she not been dancing on him, she probably would have fallen over.

"Sorry babe. You're boring me now. Hang out here and if I don't find someone better I'll come back, alright? Drink some more tequila. Maybe you'll dance better to." He whispered seductively in her ear. Just kidding, not really seductive, but she spun around and looked really confused, and he bolted away from her before he could get smacked int he face. He knew how to avoid those things. He also knew girls were vicious. He grabbed a beer from the cooler before wandering some more - and spotting somebody familiar.

"Heeeyyyy! Caleb!" He said, taking a swig of his beer, stumbling sideways into the wall once before walking over to his buddy. He was drunk, but he could handle his own pretty well. "Glad you made it." He said, patting his friend on the shoulder, before drapping his arm around Caleb's shoulders, taking another swig of his beer. "Find any hot piece of ass yet tonight, bud? It's a little slim pickin's here tonight. These girls are trashy." He said, before winking and smirking at one that walked by, making her giggle a little. Yeah, he was a real lady killer. " My parties are better. This is crap. Admit it. We picked a bad party." He was a social drinker, yes, and drinking did just that - made him more social. He would hit on just about anything that moved, but he tended to also become overly truthful and talk too much. And getting black out drunk was what he intended to do tonight.

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[caleb]

Seeing a familiar face was fantastic. It was even better that it was Lance's. The two had always been close, and had grown even closer over the past year, now that they were rooming together, and now that Caleb was repairing his social life after making the mistake of abandoning the party scene for several months and staying with one girl for a longer duration than he'd planned to. Those were all mistakes, and he was thankful for people like Lance, who threw good parties. Infinitely better parties than this. It was a shame that this was all that was happening tonight. He'd have to get trashed in order to find someone to sleep with here. And something told him that if he found someone here, shaking them off would be a burden. Ugly people got attached to anyone who gave them a second glance. At least, that was what Caleb thought. Lance was right though: the people here were trashy.

It seemed to Caleb that his fellow fire student was much farther along drinking wise than Caleb was himself. That was a shame. He took a swig from the bottle of vodka that he was holding. Yeah, like that would catch him up. Lance was already slurring and social, which was hilarious and where Caleb needed to be. Here Caleb was, with his vision a little blurry and nothing else kicking in. It was a problem that his tolerance was so high at this point. It was also just amazing that he could drink anymore at all, considering the amount of alcohol he seemed to drink regularly. His liver either loved him a lot, or hated him but was determined not to die yet. Either way, he was thankful for it. The fact that he was able to escape the boredom of sobriety at every turn was a wonderful feat.

"Hey Lance," Caleb greeted his friend. "I know, right? Usually people have to plan pig parties like this. How'd every ghoul in town just decide to drop in all at once?" he asked bitterly. This night was ruined by the fact that no one attractive was around, and he had the right to be pissed. There wasn't a place to sleep tonight, and that meant that he was going to be sleeping outside in the rain. And he'd catch pneumonia, and have to be old person sick. That was actually becoming a recurring thought in his head, and that was sad enough to make him take another swig of his drink. Anything to just get his mind off of being old or old-person-esque. "Your parties are so much better than this, dude. You know you throw a killer party. Why do you think I come to all of them?" he asked. It was true, Caleb attended all of Lance's parties, and he was glad to. They were always fantastic. "I hate to ask, bro, but if no talent comes in tonight, can I crash on your couch?" It wasn't like they weren't used to living together, after all. Though with Caleb's reputation, it may have sounded somewhat flirtatious. He was sleeping around all over town for room and board, after all.

[lancetrudel]

Lance really didn't have many close friends. Or people he relied on for just about anything. He had learned not to need to rely on other people to have fun, because then you weren't about to have fun on your own. That was always important, because no matter what, you weren't going to be able to be with somebody else all the time. There was going to come some time in your life that you needed to be alone and you were going to have to know how to entertain yourself.

But, someday was a long ways away. Right now, tonight, and in the near future, Lance didn't need to be alone. He had his friends, his alcohol, and all these strangers that by the end of the night had the potential to be a friend, or a fuck, whatever he happened to find them as. Or possibly just ignore them, because there really wasn't anybody that caught his eye there tonight. However, he couldn't help but half laugh, half snort at his best friends comment. "You know what they say, bud. The ghouls come out at night. Who's hosting this thing anyways? Probably some loser that just invited the whole town." He rolled his eyes, scowling slightly. " I mean, I'm not super picky, but you at least have to keep the trash at the curb. You know? Sucky guests, sucky part. It's just common knowledge." Even he knew you had to have some kind of guests list at parties, even if there was always a few unexpected ones that would sneak it.

He smirked and nodded his head at his friend. "Damn straight. They're all bitchin'. And you best bet I will be fitting in a few more before school comes back around. School always puts a damper on my weeknight parties." He said, with a dramatic eye roll, taking another swig of his drink. Weeknight parties weren't that fun anyways, but they were the nights when everybodies parents were usually working, so they didn't notice the parties. Especially during Summer break. He was hitting a record this summer so far for at least two a week. Usually one during the week, and one during the weekend. " But there's always weekends and stuff, you know. And our dorm is pretty much a party twenty four seven, so." He shrugged it off and laughed slightly.

Lance didn't really take anything from Caleb as flirtatious. He was straight through and through, no questioning it, so no matter what he wouldn't have cared. But the "little bit" of alcohol he had in his system was enough to prevent that anyways. "Bro..Bro..." He started, pushing off the wall and waving his free hand slightly. "You know that my house is always open to you, bro. Couch, spare room, basement. Anything. Anytime. You don't eveeeen have to ask." he said, a small smile crossing his face. "It's what friends are for."

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[caleb]

Caleb shared the thought process that he didn't need anyone else in his life. He didn't believe that he needed to depend on them, at the very least. A smile and a kind word in the direction of a stranger tended to do him better than having friends ever did. Because friends left, and friends betrayed. Friends caused needless drama, especially when you got closer to them, and Caleb couldn't deal with that. It was too much for him. So he had a few non-close friends that he kept around for shits and giggles, but didn't ask much of them. Tonight was an exception, apparently. But in most cases the only thing that Caleb Cross depended on for a good time was alcohol.

Lance was right. The ghouls really did come out at night. This party was an abomination, and the only reason that he was sticking around was the free booze. He'd have to tell himself that a lot tonight. He could tell that this was going to be a rough party, the likes of which he'd seen only a handful of times. When these cave-dweller looking girls started drinking, they'd be all over Lance and Caleb, and he was never sure how to respond to them. Because there was no way he was getting drunk enough to fuck them tonight, and he didn't even have a stick big enough to be beat them away. That was advice that one of his friends told him a few years back. Always carry a stick to keep drunk ugly chicks at bay. Unfortunately, Caleb never heeded that advice. "How does anyone think it's a good idea to invite everyone though? 'Hey trolls, come into my house and drink my booze.'" He tried to wrap his head around how that conversation must have gone. He couldn't fathom it. Then again, Caleb had never once played host to these things. Inviting wasn't his thing. He just showed up and brought chaos with him most nights.

The exception was their dorm, of course. And the fact that they held parties there and weren't caught yet was nothing short of a miracle. Either that, or the school was turning a blind eye on the two partying fires and their antics. Both seemed equally likely, because he didn't even know how the academy worked at this point. Administration couldn't just expel kids, after all. Could they? That would involve letting kids with a mild understanding of how to use devastating and surreal elemental abilities loose on the streets with a bitterness toward other elementals. That was never a good idea. The secret would be out in seconds. Caleb knew that he would make a grand fiery stunt if he were ever kicked out of school, so there was that. And he didn't know about what Lance would do, but he wouldn't blame him for doing the same. So would the school even press the issue of illegal drinking on grounds? He had to wonder. "Dude, all of your parties rock this summer. I'm so proud," he mimed brushing a tear of pride off from under his eye. "My boy's all grown up," he joked, taking another swig from the bottle in his hand.

Thank god, Lance was letting him stay at his place. That was a life saver. And apparently he didn't even have to ask in the future. And could have whatever room he wanted in the house, as long as it wasn't occupied. That was beautiful. He probably wouldn't take Lance up on that offer very often, but it was good to know that it existed. Still though, he couldn't help but push things a little further. "You're never going to get me to leave now, you know," he said with a smirk as he took another drink. "I'll be living in your place for the rest of our lives."

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