title: Passing Over, Passing Out (the grape juice remix)
codes: Seth/Ryan, 770 words.
summary: It had been Seth's brilliant idea to pound back the Manischevitz, and now he was gonna have to deal with the head splitting consequences all on his own.
notes: this is the point where I mention that I've never actually seen an ep of The O.C..For remixredux III. original story is by hyperfocused.
Ryan watched with a bemused smile as Seth slid off the barstool and promptly tripped over his own feet. Seth groaned and cussed all at once and Ryan couldn't help but chuckle as he watched him take a zigzagy path across the room. Seth was kind of cute, in a dorky sort of way, when he cussed, even if his words were a little bit slurred. It was a shame that Seth was drunk, because Ryan really wouldn't have minded taking some time to find a few ways to occupy that mouth of his.
Ryan let that thought slide through him with a shiver and kept on smiling as Seth ignored him and instead devoted his energy to expressing all of his discomfort through an undignified back flop onto Ryan's futon.
Ryan rolled his eyes as Seth threw an arm over his face and moaned again. There was no way in hell Ryan was going to be handing out any sympathy over this. It had been Seth's brilliant idea to pound back the Manischevitz, and now he was going to have to deal with the head splitting consequences all on his own. Which, really, was something Seth should've considered before he stole the stuff from his parents' liquor cabinet.
Ryan pushed Seth's legs out of the way and settled onto the bed next to him. Seth couldn't be all that drunk if he still had the coordination to plop his feet into Ryan's lap and whine about his head at the same time. Though, really, Ryan wasn't sure how Seth had even managed to get drunk enough off the rancid grape-flavored crap to pass out on the pool house counter. Sure, he'd been chugging the stuff like there was no tomorrow, but it was purple Passover wine, for God's sake, not vodka.
But then again, Seth was nothing if not a lightweight, something Ryan had tried to point out to him after their second glass at dinner, when Seth had offered to run off to the pool house with him and "hide the coffee cowmen".
And, okay, maybe he'd misinterpreted what Seth meant (how was he supposed to know about all those crazy Jewish traditions with their crazy Jewish names?), but Seth had definitely been feeling the wine by then. Ryan had only been trying to be helpful, not to mention keep himself from doing something stupid like setting the tablecloth on fire or using the salad fork to eat his desert while the Cohens (and Anna) looked on. Was it really his fault if he'd missed Seth's oh so well hidden come on?
Though, apparently Seth thought he'd been pretty obvious in his attempts to attract Ryan's attention. Which explained why Seth had suddenly developed an eye tic during the middle of the second course. It was also the reason Seth had seen the few seconds it took him to retrieve his napkin from under the table as a good opportunity to grope Ryan's thigh, which it probably would have been had he not proceeded to bang his head on the table. Blood had an annoying habit of taking the hot out of pretty much any moment.
Seth wasn't the smoothest guy ever, but Ryan had to admit that he kind of liked him that way. There's was something sexy about the messy hair and rumpled khakis Seth was sporting, that even the stench of cheap wine couldn't mask.
Seth's promise to stay away from booze meant more to Ryan than he could probably explain. He'd had to deal with far too much of that crap from Marissa, not to mention his mom and her revolving door of boyfriends. He'd really rather not have the guy he dug be a drunk too.
Seth seemed to pick up on the dark turn Ryan's thoughts had taken and he quickly shifted to a lighter topic. Ryan was tempted to let himself be seduced by the jaunty smile that curved Seth's lips with a promise of good things, but the pale shade of Seth's cheeks quickly dissuaded him of that notion. As if on cue, Seth's eyes rolled back into his head and he moaned again. It looked like those good things would have to wait for a time when Seth's stomach wasn't revolting.
Ryan eyed Seth wearily as the other boy snuggled deeper into the pillows. The dork had better not throw up on his bed. Seth scrunched his nose up and sighed as he drifted off to sleep and Ryan couldn't help but smile again as he tucked the comforter up around Seth's shoulders. Ryan would be there, bucket and wet washcloth in hand, if he did.
fin