Evelyn had been to a lot of parties in her lifetime, but none like this.
Instead of quiet, formal music, the bouncing melodies sprung at her with an enjoyable ferocity, making her itch to swing herself around, hitching up the skirt of her dress and twirling to the song. Men and women alike laughed fully and loudly, not letting loose the polite little titters they had been taught to utter quietly. Some of the younger performers ran through the crowd, playing tag and roughhousing in their party wear, children's laughter echoing throughout the large tent. Spread throughout the space were tables of food and drinks - beers and wines of all sorts, elegant glasses and hardy mugs resting beside the bottles for anyone to use. The celebration was lively, and nobody let a minute of it go to waste.
Not even shy Evelyn, who usually stood in the back at parties - no, the illusionist, clad in a flowing, lacy lavender gown, was in the midst of the crowd. With a glass of wine in hand, she joked with the other performers, occasionally placing down her glass and dancing with whoever held her fancy. Having never tried wine herself, Evelyn found the taste delectable, refilling her glass several times over the course of the night.
The party did have its downsides, as well. Evelyn found the celebrations caused her to stumble after time - because of fatigue or something else, she didn't quite know. Her and other attendees words began to slur, causing many mishaps with misunderstood phrases and mispronounced names. All the fun of a party, she supposed, filling her glass once again and wandering around.
At about one in the morning men and women began to leave, slowly and drunkenly dispersing to their tents, some having found new partners for the night. Evelyn began to wander around the room at this point, having felt as if she talked to everyone she needed to, grabbing up another glass of wine as she passed by a table, sipping it with glassy eyes as other performers stumbled past. Eventually she stopped paying attention to where she walked, and staggered into someone, wobbling as she desperately tried to right herself.
"Oops!" She giggled, flinging out her free arm to steady herself. The person she had bumped into turned, looking at her with slight concern, as she stood up straight, taking a sip of her drink.
"...Illusion?" The man asked, a bemused smile on his face.
"Oh! You know me! Wait -" She gasped, realization filling her mind as she studied the face of the person. "Damn!" Evelyn exclaimed, reaching out a hand and touching the redhead's suit. "Joker, you look real nice in a suit!" She burst into a fit of giggles, swaying slightly to the side. Nearly falling over with the slight movement, Evelyn grabbed the ringleader's shoulder for support, leaning in and whispering "Real sexy, too," into his ear before giggling once again and regaining her balance.
Joker stared at the illusionist, unsure of what to say. "Ah... thank you...?" He replied, a slight blush rising in his cheeks as the drunken girl laughed again. "Evelyn," he began, using the girl's real name as he gazed at the glass of wine in her hand. "How many drinks have you had...?"
"Um," Evelyn muttered, her brow furrowing as she tried to count in her head. "Three, maybe?"
"Or possibly four times that," Joker shook his head, reaching down and taking the glass from the girl's hand. "I think that's enough for tonight."
"Aw," Evelyn pouted slightly, before brightening up once more. "Oh well. Wanna go dance?" She blurted, out, taking the ringleader's hand.
"Er, no, sorry - I was just about to head to bed, maybe y'should do th'same..." Joker stammered, looking rather uncomfortable at the sudden suggestion. Evelyn shrugged.
"Okay. Night! Don't let the bed bugs bite!" She laughed loudly as she staggered off into the crowd once again, determined to ride out the rest of the night in celebration. Joker stared after her for a moment, before shaking his head once again and disappearing towards the first tier tents.
Bed.
Evelyn's mind only let one thought clear the drunken fog: bed. She was so tired.
After two hours more of dancing and chatting, all the performers had finally gone to bed, leaving a trashed tent and empty tables of wine and food, merrily calling out "Happy birthday, Noah's Ark!" before disappearing into their tents - some with company, others alone.
Evelyn herself stumbled towards the row of fancier quarters, fully intent on finding a nightgown and collapsing into bed. As she neared the row of nicer tents, a thought struck her mind - where was her tent? Deciding on using an age old method to sort out her predicament, Evelyn began to mutter to herself, using a finger to count each tent.
"Eenie, meenie, miney, mo... something... something... don't go in the tent with the snakes," she murmured quietly, deciding on the fourth tent from the left. Staggering towards it, Evelyn nearly fell over as she struggled with the flap, finally progressing through the entrance. "Pajamas," she whispered, thinking she had to be quiet in the dark.
Her vision blurring, Evelyn picked up the nearest thing she saw - something white with long sleeves. Pulling her party dress off and dragging the nightgown over her head, she looked around blearily, finally finding the bed. "Not where I left it," she grumbled slightly, finding herself irritated at the sight. Lurching towards the brass bed, Evelyn tumbled into it, sensing something move beside her but feeling too sleepy to care.
"G'night, me," Evelyn mumbled to herself, before falling into a deep and easy sleep.
Her head was killing her.
That was the first indicator something was wrong - Evelyn felt as if any second her head would burst. Then there was her stomach - the remainder of whatever was inside of her churned ferociously, threatening to dispel itself in a moment's time. And the bloody draft - there must have been a hole in her tent, she reckoned as puffs of warmth heated her face in the morning air. Trying to move her fact away from the air, Evelyn's nose bumped into something, and for a moment she wondered if she'd ended up at the end of the four-poster, her nose rubbing against the brass poles.
Drowsily, slowly she opened her eyes, and what she saw nearly made her heart stop.
His face. Right in front of hers. Their noses touching. Him breathing onto her face while asleep. Her arm trapped underneath his body. His arm flung haphazardly over her waist. Their legs entangled in the sheets. Her...
...Wearing his shirt.
A small, high pitched whine erupted from Evelyn's throat, absolute terror rushing over her in waves as she tried desperately to recall the events of the night before. She could only remember the start of the party, wishing the first tier members a happy anniversary before beginning to drink.
I couldn't have been drunk, Evelyn thought in disbelief, the throbbing pain in her temple screaming otherwise. Clearing her mind as best she could, Evelyn diverted her attention to the situation at hand. Maybe if I just slide my hand out - no, he'll wake up, she thought frantically. Or I could maybe - oh, God, what did I do last night? She moaned inwardly.
And that was when the panic attack came.
Right in front of her, Joker yawned, raising a hand and covering his mouth. Sleepily he began to open his eyes, drowsy violet irises staring into terrified light green. It took a moment for both to react.
"God above!"
"Holy Jesus!"
The ringleader and illusionist screeched simultaneously. Joker jolted back, as Evelyn nearly jumped a foot in the air, accidentally falling off the bed in her confusion, tearing her head across the corner of a night table on her way down. "Fuck!" She swore loudly, holding her - now worse - sore head as she sat up.
"Evelyn - you - what're-?" Joker sputtered, pushing his tousled hair back as his face burned red and his heart pumped wildly.
"Oh, shit, shit, shit..." Evelyn cursed, sounding near to tears as she put her face to her hands. "I am so sorry, oh my God - I guess I just wandered in here last night, and -" She choked out, running her fingers through her hair in an anxious twitch. "I mean, I do like you, but I never thought I would do anything like that, I mean-" The girl sounded near to hysteria as she scooted away from the bed, now curled against the tent's 'wall.'
"Wait, what?" Joker stammered. "Do what? I - why are you wearing my shirt? Wait, never mind - are you a'right?" He rambled frantically, remembering the girl's tumble to the floor.
"I - ah, yeah, I think s-" Evelyn squeaked, still mentally freaking out from the situation. She raised a hand to her head, touching the wound and drawing her fingers back as pain stung from the area, staring at the sticky substance that coated her digits.
Blood.
The illusionist shrieked at the sight as Joker hopped from the bed, drowsily clamoring towards her. Turning her head with his hands, he himself nearly had a heart attack seeing the liquid that dripped from the gash, giving a small squeak of surprise. "Wh-what do we-?" Evelyn yelped. Joker immediately snatched up a spare shirt that had been discarded on the floor, pressing it to the injury as a voice sounded from the entrance of the tent.
"Joker, are you alright? I heard yelling and-" a certain black-haired beauty asked worriedly as she ducked into the tent, stopping in her tracks as she stared at the two performers - Evelyn, sitting on the floor with the ringleader's shirt on, her hands hidden behind her head as she stared at the animal tamer, and Joker, kneeling beside her and pressing a bunched cloth to the back of the illusionist's hair - both red-faced and breathing heavily. There was absolute silence for a moment, before Beast's face contorted into a slight expression of rage.
The woman swore loudly and stormed out, whisking the tent flap closed behind her as Evelyn looked hopelessly to Joker.
My god, I had so much fun with this chapter. I re-wrote it at least four times, entertaining myself with different scenarios. Bit of a comedy chapter, this one.
So, to recap - Evelyn's woken up (after a drunken night) in Joker's bed, Joker's having a royal panic attack about it (could he possibly like her too? maybe that's why he's so flustered...) Evelyn's injured, and Beast walked in on the two. What will happen next?
Stay tuned to find out! (And thus, I leave you with the cheesiest phrase of all time.)