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Julius narrowed his eyes in the face of such insulting excuses. Yeah sure, the floor manager couldn’t do anything about the party being held on [i]their[/i] floor. To make matters even worse, as she was talking a shout of ‘turn it up!’ came from the dance floor and the guy sitting on top of the speakers happily obliged. His head was starting to ache in time with the music, and the bass was so loud that he could feel the vibrations in his breastbone. There was no way he would be able to get to sleep in his dorm tonight; let alone get any study done. 

The party already had him in a shitty mood, but when Lily started suggesting other places he could go he just couldn’t keep his mouth closed any longer.

[color=d8ff66][b]“If I wanted fucking coffee, I’d make it myself!”[/b][/color] he snapped, his thin streak of patience with this shit snapping violently. Okay, deep breaths. He’d been forced into a short course of anger management when he was too young to bunk off, and some of the tips floated to the top of his brain. Remember, it wasn’t Lily’s fault that everyone decided to have a party. She was only in charge of the floor. Wait a second, it kind of was Lily’s fault. Shit.

He was silent for a moment as he mentally cussed out the therapist who’d been unfortunate enough to be assigned to the young Julius for not giving him better lessons, and that moment was all the time his dorm mate needed to force himself into the conversation. Life was a bitch. He’d spent most of the day trying to avoid Lou and yet somehow managed to walk straight into him as soon as he entered the party. 

[color=8e51c2][b]“You shouldn't be worried about tonight, you can have some fun. There won't be parties like this one every week,”[/b][/color] Lou said, in an annoyingly reasonable tone of voice. Julius sighed and ran his hands through his tangled hair in frustration. Dislike Lou as he did, he still had to admit the smaller man had a point. There was no way the staff at the university would turn a blind eye to a party this size very often, and he would be surprised if the floor could even survive the toil of nights of dancing and spilt drinks. He was overdue for a night of relaxation- with all the stress of moving across the country and classes beginning he’d barely had time to sit still without the thought of unfinished homework or the way he had left things at home weighing on his brain.

And if he had to be honest, those screenwriting notes he had to revise could survive until tomorrow. While he wasn’t and would never be a party animal, perhaps he could manage a relaxing night spent at the opposite end of the hallway, far away from the speakers. 

[color=8e51c2][b]“The wings I made earlier today are over there, you should have some Julius.”[/b][/color] Lou continued, pointing further down the table to a plate of chicken. It was a good excuse to cut his losses and get out of there, even if there was no way in hell he was touching any food Lou had cooked. Somehow he didn’t think the words ‘sanitation’ and ‘safe food preparation’ had ever passed Lou’s lips. And as for what [i]had[/i] passed those lips…

[color=d8ff66][b]“I prefer my chicken un-snogged, Lou, but thanks anyways,”[/b][/color] Julius grimaced. [color=d8ff66][b]“And I’m sorry for blowing up on you, Lily. That was uncalled for when you were just trying to help me out.”[/b][/color] The apology sounded overly stilted and formal, as if he was reading it from a textbook without the sincerity behind the words, but an apology was getting more from him than he was used to.

[color=d8ff66][b]“I‘ll see you guys around. Enjoy the party.”[/b][/color] He gave the pair a strained smile before turning away. While he wasn’t keen on the chicken (besides, there was a slightly built Korean girl perched over the tray who seemed intent on keeping them to herself), there were some pangs of hunger in his stomach and he recalled seeing a plate of brownies balanced on the stack of empty pizza boxes in the hallway. On his way out of the room he snagged a beer from an opened six-pack near the doorway. Julius wasn’t a big drinker, but if he was going to waste this night he was going to go big or go home.

The brownies he’d spotted earlier were accompanied by a pair of students who were almost enveloped in the large cushions of a tatty yellow sofa. He nodded a greeting at them and dragged a spare chair over to include himself in their little group. 

[color=d8ff66][b]“Hey, I’m Julius. Are you guys the guardians of the brownies or somethin?”[/b][/color]