[hr][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/Ghn4HjHH/150150.png[/img] [img]https://i.postimg.cc/3JJpycx6/c1f9aa79b4a342d06f8ac66f3ff341c9.png[/img] [/center] [right]Interactions: Lynn [code]Daniel’s House[/code][/right][hr] Stirring in her crib, little sounds of discomfort began to emerge from young Jerusha Mars. Suddenly, just as soon as the noises began, they quieted as a pair of hands gently pulled her blanket up to just beneath her chin, comforting the infant and letting her drift off fully to sleep. [colour=SkyBlue]"Don't worry, Jerusha. I won't be gone long."[/colour] Daniel Mars whispered, leaning over the crib and looking down at his sister with a warm smile. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small walkie-talkie with the "call" button taped down, gently placing it in the crib a few inches from Jerusha. [colour=SkyBlue]"Just in case, if you need anything or you have a bad dream, mother and father will be able to hear you."[/colour] As he tiptoe'd out of the room, Daniel, yet again, began to internally question himself. Was this all worth it? What was he hoping to prove? How irate would his father be if he ever found out? When Daniel reached the door and flipped on his sister's nightlight, he allowed himself a moment to recompose, taking as much solace from the soft blue light himself as much as his slumbering sister. Then, after slowly shutting the door with a barely audible click, it was time to prepare. Showering, brushing hair, washing hands, de-linting his sweater and, for some reason, brushing his teeth, Daniel felt comfortable he'd checked all the bases for what would be his first ever party. Now he was ready for the final and most important step, grabbing the other walkie-talkie from his bedroom and sneaking over to his parents, Daniel peeked through the door, finding his mother sprawled out across the entire bed and drooling onto the pillows. [Colour=SkyBlue][i]'Drat!'[/i][/colour] He thought to himself, adrenaline coursing enough for him to use a normally too-harsh-for-him expletive. He couldn't leave the walkie with just his mother, he'd forgotten that around this time was when she normally took enough sleeping pills to knock a rhino unconscious. Thus, only one route was left available. Daniel descended towards the living room like a master of espionage, back against walls, slipping between cover, watching out for nonexistent guard patrols. Finally, he'd made it down the stairs and to his destination, having expected to put his stealth abilities to the absolute test and instead seeing that it wouldn't be necessary. Michael Mars, instead of upright and alert, sat slumped in his favourite chair, snoring softly as his limp hand dribbled the thimbleful of bourbon left from his glass directly onto his sweater vest. Daniel stood there for a moment, quietly taking in the pathetic sight of his father - illuminated by a still active television and with the trail of spilled alcohol traveling down from his chest to the front of his pants, making it appear as if he'd urinated himself. [colour=SkyBlue]"Phew!"[/colour] Daniel happily exclaimed, wiping some imagined sweat from his brow. Questioning absolutely nothing about this scene, he walked over and left the walkie-talkie by the foot of his father's chair. [colour=SkyBlue]"Good night, father!"[/colour] Daniel cheerfully waved as he casually left through the front door. "Ugh." Michael Mars burped in reply, eyes firmly shut as the foul stench of his consumed drink continued to waft around the room. [hr][right][code]Warehouse[/code][/right][hr] This might've been a mistake. It wasn't quite as simple as calling the experience "overwhelming", that likely applied to even the expert partygoers. The music, which felt as though it shook bodies down to the skeleton, the sensory overload of lights and noise as voices screamed over each other for dominance, the wall-to-wall mass of humanity from what seemed to be every single person and then some from Cornell High decided to attend tonight's festivities, the [i]stench[/i] of body-odour, alcohol, extremely generously applied perfumes and colognes. No, for Daniel Mars, this was the equivalent to someone who's never even seen a body of water being tossed into the ocean and forced to learn how to swim. The first time he stepped in he had to leave immediately just to catch his breath, journey's two and three hadn't fared much better. Now, on his fourth expedition, he'd managed to steel himself enough to withstand the immediate onslaught, at least enough to get a lay of the land. [quote=Lupe][color=E14BC5]"I want to make this a night to [b][i]fuckin'[/i][/b] remember!"[/color] Lupe shouts, [color=E14BC5]"Because I make every night a night to remember!"[/color][/quote] He winced, first at the cussing and then the extremely loud cheer that followed. However he took this as a good sign, he was still here, among the bodies and taking everything in. The one good thing to be said about the madness surrounding him was that it took his mind away from the doubts, he was so wrapped up in trying to make sense of everything that he was no longer questioning why he made the journey in the first place. If anything, he was getting strong enough to take proper stock of his surroundings. He knew the girl who yelled, Lupe, well, [i]knew[/i] was a strong word, she was a vibrant girl who everyone at least noticed. He saw Danny Graham, who'd once "accidentally" shoulder checked Daniel into a locker for the crime of having the same name, an act that had Daniel seeing black circles in his right eye for several weeks, he wisely gave Graham a wide berth. Moving closer where there was less mingling and more dancing, Daniel could not help but spot the loud and assertive yells of Ella Brooks, a girl Daniel only knew by appearance on account of her phosphorescent pink hair. Even still, it made him smile to see someone having fun without appearing to drink themselves stupid, in fact she appeared quite sprightly as he charged forward, getting closer and closer and- [colour=SkyBlue]"Oof!"[/colour] Daniel yelped as Ella separated the sea of drunken teenagers to reach her friend, inadvertently knocking the skinny young man aside in her rush. As he toppled backwards, he collided with a girl he'd never met before, certainly a girl he'd never accidentally slammed into before. Catching a shock of her ghostly blonde hair shimmering against an orange light overhead and the jet black eyeliner that gave her gaze an especially piercing quality. These were all perceptions that did not come immediately to Daniel Mars as he instead stumbled over himself in embarrassment. [colour=SkyBlue]"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to knock into you! That's my bad!"[/colour] Daniel exclaimed, voice modulating a little too loudly and a little too quiet as he tried to voice a genuine apology over the music.