[center][h3][color=black][u]Niles[/u][/color][/h3]


As soon as he read the email Niles knew he was going to regret ever agreeing to this. He had expected to maybe go to Zac's house or apartment or whatever, have a beer, and leave after the mandatory hour - stating some bullshit reason like an early call time as a reason why he was leaving. But of course things couldn't just be...simple. Things couldn't just be...normal. Though what was normal anyway? Niles had projected his ideal version of a meeting and of course he would wind up disappointed by such a radical shift in tone. Maybe it wasn't too late to call it off. He could find some excuse. What business did he have at a 'hot spot'? Niles frequented night clubs, he had had enough of hot spots to last him three lifetimes. 

And yet...the most confusing and thus damning piece of information on the invite was a simple line halfway through the piece. No, it wasn't the fact that Niles remembered Zac having a twin brother - Niles was no stranger to that community having 'dated' a handful over the years - but rather something seemingly innocuous.

[color=black]"What the fuck does 'dress festive' mean?"[/color]

[color=yellow]"It means to wear a costume,"[/color] Chelsea Harrington nonchalantly said as she was busily checking her makeup on a compact mirror. [color=yellow]"Your little friend is having a costume party. How adorable."[/color]

Niles had shared the details of his meeting with Zac and the subsequent email with his co-star and closest confidant, Chelsea. They had very few secrets between them and usually Chelsea was the one to bore Niles with details of her friends and their affairs - and sometimes LITERAL affairs. Niles appreciated the minor bit of role reversal.

[color=black]"Well that's crazy. Who celebrates Halloween over the age of thirteen?"[/color]

[color=yellow]"I do. You know that."[/color]

[color=black]"No, you find a cheap 'adult nurse' or something costume and try to play hook up. That's not celebrating Halloween, that's an ordinary Friday night."[/color]

[color=yellow]"Ouch, I forgot how catty you are. Anyway, what are you going as?"[/color]

[color=black]"Niles Blake."[/color]

[color=yellow]"Niles, hon, you know I love you but you really need to let your hair down every now and then. Just because your character on t.v. has a stick up his ass doesn't mean YOU have to as well."[/color] Chelsea shut her compact with a smile and began digging through her bag. [color=yellow]"Besides, I have the cutest idea for a duo costume. I'm dying my hair and everything."[/color] With a smile, Chelsea found what she had been looking for and pulled out a red bra that she then hurriedly put on.

[color=black]"What do you mean? Are you...you actually want to go to this thing?"[/color] Niles couldn't believe what he was hearing. He barely wanted to go and yet here Chelsea was showing what could count as excitement. 

[color=yellow]"Well I figure one of your friends has to be single and not...you know...you. Plus imagine the publicity this place could get if two television stars were spotted. I'm going, Niles, and I'm going to snag me a cute little boy toy."[/color] Chelsea spoke with absolutely no shame, a direct contrast to the character she portrayed on television. But that's what people hired actors to do. Act. [color=yellow]"You're not bringing Carson are you? He's such a little pervert."[/color]

[color=black]"Carson will be at a sporting event trying to sign someone. So no. But I guess if you're so determined to go you can come with me. No sense taking three cars."[/color]

[color=yellow]"Three? Who else do you know?"[/color]


[h3]Timeskip: Friday, October 28th [/h3]



[color=chartreuse]"Holy shit why does the only girl confirmed to show up at this thing have to have a boyfriend?"[/color] Rebecca Blake was moping in the backseat of Niles' car, her arms crossed and her costume only making her feel more depressed - she had picked something that would hopefully be eye catching only to be hit with the bomb that the 'party' was actually just 'Niles' old friends', and Rebecca already knew them. The night was certainly not looking good for her...or the other Blake sibling in the driver's seat for that matter.

[color=yellow]"Oh? Are you a lesbian, Rebecca? Niles never told me."[/color]

[color=chartreuse]"What I am is fucking desperate. Girls, guys, whatever, just give me SOMETHING. Art school was supposed to be full of sexually liberated people but it's all a bunch of pretentious assholes. I draw erotic things, Chels, but do you think people would commission me to draw their favorite characters fucking if they knew the artist was a virgin? Fuck no! But Niles here told me this was a party not a...circlejerk."[/color]

[color=yellow]"Well, your sister's very...colorful, isn't she?"[/color]

[COLOR=chartreuse]"I wouldn't even HAVE this problem if someone let me have FUN in high school."[/color] Rebecca and Niles had patched up their relationship considerably since they entered adulthood, but every now and then Rebecca liked to dig up old wounds just so she could throw a little bit of salt in them. What were siblings for? 

Niles, meanwhile, said little on the drive though not for lack of trying. Rebecca just had this way of bulldozing through conversations and she and Chelsea had spent the length of the car ride discussing things better discussed in the privacy of a closed room. Niles wasn't quite sure when he became that one friend to Chelsea and by association his sister, but he had and he was sure he didn't exactly like it. Almost as much as how he didn't like the costume Chelsea had all but forced him to wear. It was a costume meant for couples, ideally, and Niles and Chelsea were anything but, but Niles learned a long while ago that when Chelsea Harrington asks you to do something...you do it.

[color=black]"Hey, Reby?"[/color] Niles was the only person Rebecca allowed to call her that; she was saving the rights to that nickname for a boyfriend or girlfriend but that ship had yet to leave the port, [color=black]"Maybe less...profane when we get there?"[/color]

[color=chartreuse]"What? Why? You don't give a shit about these people, why should I? They weren't my friends, you guys never let me play in your stupid games."[/color] That was a Niles decision and one he had come to regret later in life. But again, he and Rebecca were...better now. 

Niles knew that this was a losing battle and so sighed. This was going to be a trainwreck. The conversation bounced back and forth between Chelsea swapping stories of her various flings and Rebecca talking about the weirdest commissions on her blog and Niles regretting ever telling either of them about this event that by the time he pulled into the location where they were all meeting he was glad just to get out of the car for a minute. 

[color=yellow]"Oh good, we're not the first ones. You never want to be the first. What a...suburban location this is."[/color] Chelsea was the first one to leave the car though she waited for Niles to leave before approaching the group - paired costumes worked better that way. But both Chelsea and Niles had forgotten about the little third wheel.

[color=chartreuse]"HOLY SHIT IS THAT GUY WEARING A WEDDING DRESS?"[/color] Rebecca couldn't help herself from shouting as she got out of the car and spotted the very visible Mikaela. [color=chartreuse]"I'm so fucking drawing this later. Oh my god."[/color]

Niles had only gotten as far as the parking lot and already he was hating everything about this night.[/center]

[center][hider=Rebecca's Costume][img]http://i.imgur.com/Eegb1kP.jpg[/img][/hider]

[hider=Niles and Chelsea's Costumes][img]http://i.imgur.com/GUBWSTp.jpg[/img][/hider][/center]