Written by Raven.
Thanks for the reviews!
….
It didn't take long for Alex to find the drink, Charles never being one for hiding the drink, even if there were teenagers in his house. Soon, Alex had a full glass of whiskey sitting in front of him, the amber liquid gleaming tentatively at him as he slowly reached for it. Somewhere in his mind, a small inner voice, most likely the sensible part of him, told him that it would be a bad idea to drink whilst high but he ignored it, shrugging a 'what the hell'. He needed this. The whiskey slipped down like juice and he began to grin. Now, the fun could begin!
~~~linebreak~~~
Alex was in the lounge, setting up shot glasses when the others appeared, Raven and Angel stumbling in first. They already looked slightly worse for wear; clearly they had been at the pancakes too.
"Heya, Alex!" Angel giggled, collapsing onto a heap on the sofa and pulling Raven down with her, the blonde girl falling on top where she lay and laughed, clutching at her sides before heaving herself up onto her feet, gazing down at the glasses in interest.
"Ooo! What are you doing? Is that tequila?" Raven pointed excitedly at the bottle of clear liquer sitting beside the glassed, nearly bouncing in excitement. "I love tequila!"
"Got any vodka?" Angel asked, picking up a glass and twirling it through her fingers. "Or Sambuca. I can do a mean Flaming Sambuca!" She grinned mischeviously and spat out a gentle fireball into the glass, watching it burn brightly before fading. "So, where are the others? Or are we starting without them?"
Alex shrugged. "Dunno. Erik was here sometime ago but I remember something about him going to find Sean or something? Everything's kinda hazy...shouldn't have had so many of those pancakes."
Raven looked up in interest, tilting her head curiously. "What was wrong with the pancakes? Charles, Angel and I were eating them earlier; they tasted fine."
Alex snorted. "They were pot pancakes. And yeah, Sean's a good cook. And he's all mine."
There was silence, the two girls staring first at the blonde then at each other doubtfully, eyebrows slowly raising. Alex's hands flew to his mouth as he realised what he had said, a faint blush creeping up his cheeks.
"Uh, I meant...Oh, fuck this. I'm having a drink!" And with that, he poured out three measures, handed a glass to each of the girls and downed his in one go, wiping his mouth with a sigh. "Needs salt...Oh, and lemon. I'll go get some."
As he stood up and made for the door, he was almost bowled over by Hank, the scientist bouncing up and down like Alex had never seen him before, all but hanging off Lucy's arm.
"Hey, what's up with you, bozo?" he slurred, slapping the man on the shoulder as he passed. "Never seen you so relaxed!"
"Sean's pancakes!" Lucy tittered, fanning at herself slightly before spotting the shot glasses and practically levitating over to them, seating herself on the floor beside Angle and pleading a tequila off the winged girl. "I think there was something in them!"
"Ya think? Hey, it's gotta be said; my man can cook!" As the others guffawed in not quite comprehension, he strode through into the kitchen and walked into the unmovable wall that was Erik Lehnsherr's chest, the metal bender staring down at the energy blaster with a raised eyebrow.
"Weed and drink? Is that seriously the best combination?" Suddenly, his eyes widened in horror as he looked over Alex's shoulder where an excited voice was declaring, "Oh, is that tequila? I love tequila! Has anyone got any lemon?"
"Charles! Don't you dare!" Erik pushed past Alex, already sprinting for the lounge, but it was too late, the telepath being in the midst of downing a shot. Erik slumped, murmuring "Shit," under his breath. Looked like he was going to the only responsible adult at this party tonight.
~~~linebreak~~~
It didn't take long for the drinks to really start to flow, everyone laughing and joking, slowly loosening up. Raven kept snuggling up to Hank, whispering coyly in the scientist's ear whilst Lucy and Angel gazed at the pair jealously, the two girls united in their disappointment.
"It's disgusting, isn't it?" Angel mumbled, staring into her wine glass morosely. "One moment, she's laughing and joking with me, the next she's slobbering all over him! " She glanced sideways at Lucy, taking a swig of whatever alcohol was in her glass (she had lost track of what was being poured in long ago). "You like him, don't you?"
Tentatively, Lucy nodded, swirling her own glass. "Yeah, just like you like Raven."
Angel all but gaped at her. "You...you know?"
"Course. It's kinda hard to miss." Lucy smiled sadly. "But it seems like neither of us are wanted."
Angel smirked suddenly. "I've got an idea..." She whispered something in the other girl's ear. Lucy began to giggle.
At the other end of the room entirely, another event was taking place. Alex and Charles stared each other in the eye, each trying to outglare the other, two rows of full shot glasses lined up before them.
"On your marks," Moira whispered, holding back a hiccup as she spilt her drink all over the rug. "Oops. Right, get set!"
"I think this is a bad idea," Erik interrupted with, still sober despite the others' best efforts to change that. "Charles, you should know better." As usual, he was ignored.
"Aaaannndd...GO!"
In an amazing show of synchronised drinking, the two mutants began to down the shots without so much as taking a breath, gulping the burning tequila down like it was water, the sound of empty glasses dropping onto the table top echoing around the room. One hand raised in victory, Charles finished his last shot, slamming the glass down and roaring triumphantly whilst Erik rolled his eyes, wondering how the man was going to feel in the morning. However it was, it wasn't going to be as bad as Alex felt. The boy was drinking like he'd never seen alcohol in his life, downing it in large gulps before going back for more. Erik had the odd sense that Alex was trying to forget something...
He didn't know how right he was.
Hesitantly, Sean poked his head round the door, having finally worked up the courage to come after spending the first half hour crying onto Angel's shoulder and the rest of his time staring despondantly at his ceiling, wondering if he'd maybe ruined things permanently with Alex. An amused smile slid into place as he watched Raven suddenly back out of a cupboard, several tall long glasses clutched in her arms and skip over to where Charles and Alex had just finished a drinking contest overseen by Moira and Erik, happily holding them out for inspection.
"Look what I found!" she squealed, bouncing on the spot. "Yard of Ale glasses! Remember these?"
Charles' eyes lit up in much the same way that they had when he had first seen Cerebro; he reached out for a glass joyfully.
"Oh, gimme, gimme, gimme!"
He picked up two glasses, holding one out with a grin for Alex and said in what was supposed to be a solemn noble voice, "I hereby challenge you to the test of the Yard of Ale!" It was somewhat spoiled by his slightly giggly hiccuping.
"You are so on!" Alex answered and the pair clinked glasses, dashing off for the wine and followed by an excitedly clapping Raven and Moira, the two woman yelling their support. Erik remained where he stood, a sigh escaping his lips, and Sean sidled over to him, gently tapping him on the shoulder. The metal bender, unlike the room's other occupants, seemed sober.
"Hey, what you doing?"
"Debating over which of them is going to have the sorest head tomorrow." Erik answered honestly, head tilted to one side as they two mutants raised their now full glasses to each, tipping imaginary caps as the others surrounded them and began to cheer when they began to drink without stopping for breath, wine dripping down their chins. "My money's on Alex at the moment." This was said as the energy blaster in question finished his yard of 'ale' and laughed at Charles' shocked expression, wiping his mouth and grinning.
"Never seen you beat at your own game!" Raven chuckled, wrapping an arm round Alex's shoulder and smirking smugly at her brother before shrieking in shock as the blonde she was leaning on tipped sideways suddenly, crumpling to the floor where he lay and laughed, Raven sprawled on top of him, shifting into her natural blue form as she did so. A sudden mischevious look came over Alex's face and he suddenly pulled Raven's face to his, planting a smacker on her lips and causing her to titter.
"Someone's being a naughty boy!" she said with a meaningful look towards Sean. And that was what led them onto the Never Have I Ever game.