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

Now that he was closer to the two couch sitters he had a chance to take a better look at them. On the left was a guy with wild hair who reminded Julius of the slacker stereotype in every teen movie ever, and next to him was a pretty, darker skinned girl with large brown eyes. They seemed slightly standoffish as he approached, but that might have been just a side-effect of him entering their group mid-conversation.
Wild-hair dropped his head in a tight nod of greeting at Julius’ entrance and gave a restrained laugh at his astoundingly witty opening line. The girl simply stared him down, her gaze shifting from head to toe before flicking back to his face. He wasn't sure if her expression was approving or the opposite.

[color=fada5e][b]“Yeah, the Guardians of the Galaxy was already taken, so…”[/b][/color] the boy said, the sentence trailing off as he either lost his train of thought or the energy to complete it. Julius gave a dry almost-grimace at the joke out of politeness. 

[color=fada5e][b]“I’m Ziggy, and uh, I’ll let the lady make her own introductions,”[/b][/color] he continued.

[color=#B75D3B][b]"I'm Venus,"[/b][/color] she cut in. [color=#B75D3B][b]"But you both can call me Vee if you want." [/b][/color]

A moment of silence stretched for just slightly too long before Julius realised he should probably say something.

[color=#d8ff66][b]“Uh.. nice to meet you guys.”[/b][/color]

[color=fada5e][b]“Pretty rough back there, man.”[/b][/color] Ziggy said, his tone slightly hostile as he nodded in the direction of Lily. She had looked shell shocked after he had opened up on her, and rightfully so. He would be lying if he said he didn’t regret it, but as floor manager this party thing was kind of wholly her responsibility. If she couldn’t control a small first-week gathering what hope would she have for the rest of the year?

[color=fada5e][b]“You feelin’ okay?”[/b][/color]

What the hell was that supposed to mean? For a second Julius’ temper flared and he felt like opening up the pressure valve again. But where would that get him? Making enemies this early wasn’t a good idea, and he’d already dicked around the floor manager. With difficulty he controlled his pissiness and let out a pent-up sigh. 

[color=#d8ff66][b]“I don’t know, man. I’ve just been so highly strung lately.”[/b][/color] He held up a slightly shaky hand to show them before continuing. [color=#d8ff66][b]“I feel like I’m balanced on a tightrope above a pit of losing control and being a prick… and this party was like someone sweeping out my legs from under me.”[/b][/color] Julius fell silent for a moment as he realised he was probably sharing more than the question required. [color=#d8ff66][b]“I guess I’ve just never been too good at letting loose and enjoying myself. Wish I knew how.”[/b][/color] He leaned forward in his chair and ran his hands through his long hair, balancing his elbows on his outstretched knees.

[color=fada5e][b]“Hey, why don’t you try one? They’re my special recipe.”[/b][/color] Ziggy pushed the brownie plate closer to Julius before exchanging a grin with Venus that Julius was too distracted to notice. The dark chocolate, slightly crispy looking brownies did look inviting.

[color=#B75D3B][b]"Yeah, you should definitely try one,"[/b][/color] she said, smiling too. [color=#B75D3B][b]"I ate one earlier. Pretty good if you ask me."[/b][/color]

Julius eyed the brownie plate with slight curiosity. The two of them seemed slightly keener than just trying out Ziggy’s ‘special recipe’ warranted, but what was the worst that could happen? He stretched a hand out and selected a particularly chunky looking one from the top of the pile. As he raised it to his mouth, he looked back at the two expectant faces on the couch. Shaking off the slightly uneasy gut feeling he had about the brownie, he bit down.

[color=#d8ff66][b]“Well...”[/b][/color] Julius struggled initially for words. [color=#d8ff66][b]“It’s not bad.”[/b][/color] This was a blatant lie. It tasted like no brownie he had eaten before- the taste of chocolate seemed to have been an afterthought added after an overpowering flavour of what almost reminded him of eating grass. Holding the brownie closer to the light he could see little specks of green in between the crispy chocolate chunks. He picked one out and inspected the small piece on the end of his finger.

[color=#d8ff66][b]“Dude, what’s up with this? Did you put herbs in here or something?” [/b][/color]He was almost more curious and baffled than annoyed at the weird taste. While every brownie he’d eaten before had tasted a lot sweeter, those had been back home across the country. Their ways were a lot different to his own here. They probably did more folk dancing. And who knew, maybe they made their brownies savoury with herbs too.