Touya had kept in touch with Callie over the days that lead up to Sam's birthday. The word had gotten out and everyone was looking forward to the event; the long week making people ready to blow off steam. And it looked like Touya was going all out.
As they stood in the lift, rising the levels right up to the top of the building where Touya lived, Callie felt her arms begin to ache as she clutched the heavy crates of beer, liquor bottles and soda.
Touya had messaged her on the morning of Sam's birthday asking if she could come and help him set up for the party. She hadn't seen the birthday boy all day, as he had left for class early that morning. It kind of saddened her to not have wished him happy birthday in person yet. Touya had chosen to skip the class, more interested in bringing in the speakers and copious amounts of alcohol up to his place instead.
When she had approached the sleek building, she had found herself staring in disbelief; this wasn't how she pictured his apartment block to look like.
"Alright, he we are," he declared, balancing his crate on one knee while using his free hand to unlock the door. When he pushed it open, Callie was not greeted by the smell of stale cigarettes and dirty socks like she'd expected. On the contrary, the space they walked into was brightly lit with natural light that poured in from the floor to ceiling length windows. It smelt like clean linens and...citrus? The walls were shockingly white and the furniture was sleek black and chrome. Splashes of colour were dashed throughout the open-plan space in pieces of contemporary art and the glow of LED lights. The penthouse had two levels, the second one overlooked the first; Touya had already set up a DJ booth there.
"This is quite the bachelor pad, Touya," Callie commented, still awed by her unexpected surroundings.
But the thing that caught her eye and made her raise her brows the most as she set her crate down on the spotless kitchen top, was the unmistakable stripper pole in the lounge area.
"Seriously?" She uttered with a slow shake of her head.
Touya's face appeared over her shoulder as she continued to stare at the pole's placement in the room. It had its own little platform and spotlights and a semi-circle shaped, velvet couch curved around it.
"You can try it out, if you'd like," He grinned at her ear, nodding towards the pole.
Callie inched her face further from his, casting him a sideways glare. "I don't think so." She scoffed.
As he pulled away with a playful shrug, she began to unpack the bottles of booze. As her fingers wrapped around the neck of a bottle of tequila, she flashed him a small smile. "Maybe after a few drinks..."
Touya's face split into a laugh. "Ayyy..." he sang. "That's what I like to hear, girl."
And their playful banter made her giggle.
"I'll make sure 'ole Samuel gets a front row seat, hm?" He teased, winking an eye.
"Not before I get him to have a go himself." She shot back.
Touya snorted, opening a beer from the crate and offering her one. "You'd be surprised how well that dork can dance."
She declined the beverage with a shake of her head and a scrunch of her nose. It wasn't even noon yet.
"So I've heard..." she mumbled. And secretly, she hoped Sam would dance with her tonight.
Between them, it didn't take them long for her and Touya to set up for the party. Snacks were laid out, drinks were refrigerated, ice was made and playlists were chosen. The tricky part had been rigging the lighting for the evening but, after watching a few tutorials on the internet, they managed to work it out.
As Callie cast her eyes around at their handiwork, the last thing she thought before heading back to Snowdin Apartments was...
Tonight was going to be one hell of a party.
*
"You're kidding?"
"Nope. He even has a stripper pole, for goodness sake."
Russ couldn't quite believe her description of Touya's stylish penthouse apartment when she recounted it to him later that evening as they got ready to go. Sam still wasn't home. Knowing that he would most likely be hungover the next day, he had stayed to do extra work in the library to make up for it.
"Well, the Todoroki family are pretty damn wealthy." Russ stated, dabbing cologne behind his ears.
He was dressed in burgundy slacks and a crisp, white shirt. His white hair was effortlessly styled and his forearms looked enticingly good with his sleeves rolled up. As usual, he looked remarkable handsome. And when Callie told him so, he flashed her a dashing smile and returned the compliment.
"That colour suits you!" He smiled, nodding his head towards her rose-gold dress. The shade complimented the gloss she'd swiped across her lips and the heels she'd slipped onto her feet. She thought she'd make an extra effort for tonight, considering the location and the occasion. She'd even done something new with her hair; coiling it into an up-do so as to showcase the plunging, open back of the dress.
"Thank you," she returned, twirling under his arm when he took her hand. She laughed as she spun, Russ being careful where he placed his hands when he stopped her. She always appreciate the way he treated her almost like another sibling. Their bond was a comforting one.
"What time is Sam coming home?" She asked, eyeing the clock as it ticked onto 7pm. "The party should be starting now."
Russ grinned over her glass of rum and coke. It seemed his last, atrocious hangover was long forgotten if he was choosing to start the night with hard liquor. "It's his birthday. He can arrive fashionably late."
And 20 minutes and another rum and coke later, Sam walked in through the front door looking positively disheveled, particularly in comparison to his dressed-up roommates. They sang him 'happy birthday' while he grinned feebly, dumping his bags on the sofa and taking the shot of tequila from his brother's hand.
"Here's to 22 years of perpetual nihilism," he sighed, raising his shot glass as Callie and Russ booed him. But after he threw back the clear liquid, he soon perked up. Even more so when Callie walked over and pressed a kiss against his cheek. "Happy birthday, Sam."
"Heh. Thanks, Callie."
It didn't take him long to get ready. Another 20 minutes later and he was showered and dressed in the new jacket and t-shirt Touya had gifted him. Surprisingly, the combination worked well. With his beanie hat, messy white hair and tired eyes, Sam rocked that grungy, skater aesthetic that Callie found so appealing.
After turning off the lava lamp Callie had bought him, which he thanked Callie for with a kiss that had accidentally landed very close to her lips, the three roommates were finally ready to head to the party.
When they approached the sleek building, Sam wore an expression that mimicked Callie's earlier reaction. And when Touya opened the door to the penthouse, Sam was momentarily stunned.
"Dude, did you break into this place or..?"
But his friend merely laughed as he shoved another shot into his hand and pulled him inside. It seemed they had been the last to arrive as the entire apartment was filled with bodies, all of which turned towards Sam as Touya loudly announced his arrival and everyone wished him happy birthday in a chorus of cheers and raised glasses.
Sam looked almost sheepish as he raised his glass back in thanks. But as he swallowed down his second helping of tequila, he soon relaxed.
"Okay, birthday boy!" Mina called, taking him by the arm and dragging him towards the speakers, "now you're gonna dance with us!"
Sam groaned through his smile, "ladies, I've just got here!" But Ochako and Mina merely scoffed as they lifted his arms and playfully backed their bodies into him til he was sandwiched between them.
Kirishima handed Sam a beer over the top of Mina's head, Bakugo not too far behind him.
"Happy birthday, man!"
"Happy birthday, loser."
And Sam grinned as the cheerleaders bumped their hips against him til he finally started to move to the music.
As Callie watched on, admittedly a little jealous the girls had gotten Sam on the dance floor first, she felt a hand snake around her waist and pull her sideways towards the kitchen. Turning, she saw Touya's sly face peeking at her. Russ had ventured off to talk to Deku and Sero, who were stood by the huge windows taking in the view with drinks in hand.
"Champagne for the lady?" Touya asked, spinning her towards the vast selection of beverages that lined the work-surface. He pulled out an expensive looking bottle from the large bucket and gave it a light wiggle, his brows doing the same. He'd already popped the cork and was pouring her a glass before she could even contemplate her answer. When he dropped a strawberry into the bottom and handed it to her, he winked and said. "To match your dress."
"Thank you," She chimed, and delighted in the sweet taste and bubbles as they filled her mouth.
"No, thank you." He retorted, raising his bottle of beer to clink it against her flute of champagne. "You did me a solid helping me set up earlier."
He leaned against the table-top, eyes scanning the different scenes taking place throughout the penthouse.
Kaminari and Jirou were overlooking the dance floor from the DJ decks on the second floor. Below them, Kirishima was lounging with Undyne and Alphys on the leather couches, laughing loudly with his legs spread. Undyne had one of her large arms around Alphys, who looked rather out of place at the party yet completely at home in her girlfriend's embrace. Bakugo was talking to a girl with mousy hair that Callie didn't recognise. She had pouty lips and wore a low cut top. She moved her hands a lot when she spoke. Surprisingly, Bakugo looked at ease in her clearly very bubbly presence.
Shinso had joined the guys gathered by the windows and looked as docile as ever as he listened to their conversation with one hand in the pocket of his cargo pants, and the other cradling a tumbler of amber liquid.
And right in the middle of it all was the birthday boy, twirling a giggling Ochako under one arm with the other draped around Mina's moving shoulders. The former was wearing his glasses and looked positively dizzy by the time she fell against his laughing chest.
No, she wasn't jealous. That's what she kept telling herself as she downed the glass of champagne and did a little burp. Touya grunted a laugh and she knocked her shoulder into his.
After chatting to Touya, Callie decided to mingle. After catching Bakugo's eye, she walked over and introduced herself to the new girl. Her name was Cami, and Bakugo informed her that they'd met during an apprenticeship last year.
"And how do you know Touya?" Callie asked, taking a sip of her champagne.
Cami's plump lips pulled into a wistful smile. "Oh! I met Touya at a bar!" And Callie guessed that wasn't all to the story, but Cami simply left it at that. It was then that the man in question called loudly over the music.
"Hey, Cami!"
She turned her pretty, fawn coloured head to face him. "Yeah fam?"
"Take off your clothes!"
And without even batting an eye, she reached down and pulled off her top.
"Sure thing, fam!"
Off came her halter neck while Bakugo and Callie exchanged bewildered stares.
It was only when Callie turned back to Touya with a questioning gaze, that she saw that he was holding a bottle of tequila in the air while Shinso and a wildly grinning Kaminari held a shaker of salt and a couple of limes. Callie had been to enough house parties to know where this was going.
"Who's for body shots?" Touya called, then pointed a finger in his friend's direction. "Sam?"
The Birthday boy responded by waving a hand at his neck in a slicing motion, looking aghast.
"Ahh, c'mon Gaster!"
Soon enough, half the party dwellers were gathered around the table where Cami now lay in her lacy bra.
"Okay bae, but if you get any tequila on my skirt I'm gonna totes flip."
Sam scratched nervously beneath his beanie hat as Cami wagged a warning finger at him. His eyes traveled from the tequila in her belly button to the salt line in the cleavage before finally resting on the slice of lime she had just popped in between her plump lips.
After Touya slapped him encouragingly on the back while the group cheered, Sam leant forewords and sucked the liquid from her naval. Her stomach shied away from his lips as she giggled at their touch. Upon reaching the salt, he paused slightly, adjusting his glasses sheepishly before running his tongue lightly over the line that trailed between her breasts. Finally, he moved to take the wedge of lime from her mouth with his own, chewing on it to a round of rowdy applause.
"Well played! High five, fam!" Sang Cami, and Sam slapped his hand against hers as he spat the used lime wedge into his free hand and tossed it onto the table.
A grinning Kaminari was the next. He executed the routine seamlessly with a wide smile plastered onto his face. He had made sure to brush his lips against Cami's when he went in for the lime. She merely laughed at his boldness. Shinso, on the other hand, slurped noisily from her tummy button, making her squirm from the way it tickled. Still, she managed to keep the lime in her lips, which he snatched up with a curl of his salt-tipped tongue.
Touya was the last to take his shot, after first offering Russ a go. The younger Gaster brother shook his head. "I'm good, thanks." And Callie smiled at his sheepishness. Considering he spent a lot of time with pretty girls, Russ wasn't the playboy you'd initially think he was. Then there was Touya who, upon reaching the lime in Cami's mouth, lapped it up with a skilful swipe of his tongue before promptly making out with her there on the table.
Callie looked over to see Sam roll his eyes. Bakugo and Mina groaned in disgust while Jirou averted her blushing face. When Touya finally pulled away, spitting the lime wedge into an empty cup on the table, Cami declared the body shots were now over as Touya took her hand and pulled her upright again. Sam handed her back her shirt and she kissed him on the temple when she took it.
It seemed the body shots were the start of the real partying. Conversations grew louder, the bass grew deeper and the mood grew more raucous.
Outside, darkness had enveloped U.A campus. The moon was full and the air was light. Inside, Kaminari had just switched on the coloured lights Callie and Touya had set up earlier that day. The blues and purples flashed over the dancing bodies as they moved together to the beat of Jirou's tracks.
Part way through the night, Touya had taken Callie by the hand as she had sat with Shinso, talking about cats and coffee, and dragged her towards the dance floor.
"C'mon, Callie babe." He grinned at her. "You're letting that dress go to waste!" And suddenly, his warm hands were on her hips as he coaxed her into the rhythm of the baseline. Laughing, she began to move her waist, her body bumping against Mina and Ochako's who were dancing with Deku nearby. Winking an eye, Touya spun her once, twice. And when he let her go and shoved her lightly on the back, his real intention was made clear. He hadn't wanted to dance with her, he wanted her to dance with Sam, whose body she had just collided with thanks to Touya's playful push. The birthday boy had been talking into Kirishima's ear over the loud music, both of them simultaneously bopping to the bass line with drinks in hand.
Sam grunted as Callie caught herself on his shoulders. "Oof! S-sorry, Sam!" She laughed.
His grinning face turned to her and she felt him lay a gentle hand on her hip.
"Easy there, Callie! You good?" He looked her up and down, checking her over. "Too much tequila?" He teased.
Although that wasn't the reason for why she had fallen into him, it was the reason for why she spoke so boldly when she responded;
"No, I'm fine. But I'll be even better if you'd dance with me!"
Both Sam and Kirishima laughed, the latter giving Sam a heavy-handed shove. "You heard the lady!"
And when Sam shrugged off his jacket with one of those lazy, lop-sided grins, he looked like he meant business.
Pulling her close, she smelt the lime on his breath and felt his lips on her ear. The alcohol had made his usual, low drawl even more slurred when he spoke.
"Did I tell you..." he began, their bodies curling into one another's as the lights flashed around them, "that you look really beautiful tonight?"
Callie felt her heated face pull into a wide smile. She slipped her arms around his neck as they continued to move in sync.
"You just did." She laughed, tilting her head against his. And when she glanced over his shoulder, she caught Touya's eye wink at her through the purple hue.
Well played, wingman.
She turned her smiling eyes away just as Sam's hands slipped down the bare skin at her back. But before she could press her lips to his like she had intended, Kaminari's voice called loudly over the music.
"So is that pole just for show or?"
Sam and Callie turned their faces away from one another to look towards the blond who was gesturing towards Touya's most prized possession.
Callie knew what was coming. She sucked air in through her teeth as she heard Touya call out.
"Well, Callie? Had enough drinks yet?"
And she immediately regretted her earlier joking retort about trying out the pole after having consumed enough booze. Then again, she did used to take pole fitness classes back at her old university...
It was Mina and Cami who finally persuaded her to step up. Jirou grinned from the DJ decks as she spun a fitting track. As the music rolled, so did Callie's body. With a hook of her legs, she lift and spun, slid and split. She was careful enough to keep her underwear concealed.
"Well damn..." she heard Russ comment as she kicked out of a particularly difficult lift. Sam was stood behind him looking equally stunned but far less bashful.
"Work it, bae!" She heard Cami call.
And when the notes began to fall, Callie spun to see Touya tossing real bills towards her, what looked like a joint hanging from his lips.
"Hey! I'll get a piece of that!" Kaminari guffawed, eyeing the bills with glee. He then tucked his t-shirt into itself to resemble a crop-top and hopped onto the platform. Callie laughed as he took the pole and began to twirl around it as half the group booed while the other half cheered. The girls giggled as they stuffed money into the band of his boxer shorts.
Laughing at the funny scene, Callie hadn't noticed Sam and Touya appear at her shoulders. The former was grinning his usual grin.
"Happy birthday to me." He drawled, taking a sip of his beer as Callie laughed lightly.
"Shit, Callie." Touya smirked, "you kept that little talent secret, hm?" She smelt the marijuana on his breath, but the joint had found its way to Shinso and Sero who were both now slumped on the couch blowing smoke rings.
She squinted her eyes at him and mirrored his expression. "I took classes last year."
"For fitness reasons or in case your History Degree doesn't work out?"
She thumped him heavily on the arm. He laughed, his eyes small and slightly blood shot under the coloured lights.
"Jackass."
As the night rolled on and the snacks ran out, a stoned and munchy-driven Shinso had used the money in Kaminari's boxers to pay for the ridiculous amount of pizzas he'd ordered. The delivery boy looked highly amused as he handed the tall stack of of stuffed crust over to the lazy-eyed Shinso. The smell of hot carbs emptied the dance floor as the bodies swarmed the greasy boxes like frenzied gulls. Shinso managed to retreat back to the sofa with a box all to himself, carrying a slice in his mouth as he went.
Only two bodies were left beneath the flashing lights. Sam was once again holding Callie by the waist as they danced, though his movements weren't as slick as the had been before. In fact, it was safe to say he was pretty damn drunk. Which was why, when he had leaned in to kiss her, she'd placed a finger to his lips. He groaned against it in disappointment, his eyes falling shut.
Though she'd found herself daydreaming about kissing Sam Gaster for weeks now, Callie wouldn't settle for a drunken version of him. When she whispered this in his ear, he'd grumbled something unintelligible. She figured he wouldn't remember this interaction by morning. When she sat him down on one of the couches, an equally inebriated Touya appeared. He slumped next to his friend and wrapped an arm around him. Rolling her eyes, Callie left the two best-buddies to their heartfelt exchange of 'I love you, bros' and 'I love you too, dudes.'
"No really..." She heard Touya grumble, leaning an unsteady Sam into his shoulder. "You're the best."
The party was reaching its end as more and more bodies began to drop like flies. Bakugo had put a tearful Kirishima to bed after, he too, declared his undying love for his best friend. Kaminari had joined them in the spare room after stumbling in behind them in a flurry of bills and light giggles.
And up until that point, Callie remembered the events of the night.
Yet, when she awoke the next day with a pounding in her head and a raging thirst for water, she couldn't recall having gotten into bed with the two bodies that lay either side of her.