diamonds as a midnight snack // casper & willow

It wasn't that he didn't like King's parties, it was just usually he tended to appreciate them better from afar. Willow liked being banished to the garden. King used to set him up with a blanket, a stack of books and snacks. He liked to sit alone as the night grew cold, with the muffled sound of music in the background punctuated with people laughing.

But, "I'm not going to be around to save your ass forever, Will, you gotta get to know people," King had said.

So Willow was at the party this time, hand wrapped around a glass of something that King had mixed for him and back against one of the grand pillars in the entrance hall. The music was much louder from inside and it made the walls bounce, the floor too. Everything was vibrating from all the sound and King had been right, it was kind of wonderful.

Except for the fact that it made it hard to move. He knew where the pillar was so he knew where he was, but he didn't know where everyone else was and that was the main issue. There were also three other possible pillars he could be leaning against and that mattered. If he walked left away from one, he'd hit wall but the right would send him into the open air. If he got shoved around, he'd never find his way out. So for the moment, he was trapped.

It wasn't so bad. People came by, all King's friends or people who wanted to know his older brother, to pay their respects. There was a clap on his shoulder and he turned to the right to pursue it and then someone ruffled his hair from straight on, so he turned again. His back lost the pillar and when he reached out to find it again, his hand met something soft instead.

Maybe it was a sweater?

"Will," came a soft giggle from Pia who had leaned in close to be heard above the music, "You've grabbed my tit, hon." She took his hand gently and Willow blushed deep, just relieved it was King's best friend he'd found and not someone random. "You were looking for a wall right?" came her voice from further away and Willow found himself being pulled forward. He only stumbled a little, didn't even spill a drop from the glass in his hand.

She dropped him off in a corner of the room and Willow leaned back into both walls with a grateful sigh, "Think you just saved my life," he said with a grin. Pia was already gone again, lost to the crowd.

Maybe it was a little bit overwhelming. He didn't want to think about that though, not when there was nothing he could really do about it. If he started freaking out, it'd just cause a scene and the party couldn't go on for that much longer, right?

Willow sipped carefully from the cup that King had given him. It was some sort of vanilla, citrus thing. "Cream and orange," King had whispered as he'd passed it off to him. Willow liked to know what colours he was drinking because it made it easier to identify the flavours.

It kind of just tasted like alcohol. King had made it too strong, probably already a little too drunk when he'd mixed it. Willow had nothing better to do though and in twenty minutes, he found that he'd finished the drink. His teeth felt chalky, maybe fake, like someone else had put them in his mouth. He ran his tongue over them carefully and scraped his teeth over his bottom lip. It barely registered.

His nose felt warm too, kind of tingly, sort of like his cheeks. Slowly, he slid down the wall a bit to place his glass on the ground. It was better that way because then he could place both hands against the wall to keep himself steady. Maybe it was the drink, but suddenly he was full of false confidence. Of Course he could get through th front hall with the acoustics all off like this and full of random obstacles of people that weren't normally there.

How hard could it truly be?

Willow stepped away from the wall and collided hard with someone else. He felt the exact moment his head collided with the wall behind him but lost where his limbs ended and the other person began. For a brief second, there was cheek against his chest and the scent of freshly mown grass-green-within his arms.

And then they were just a tangle on the floor. Willow breathed out slowly, the marble so cold against his back that it bled through his shirt.

"Um," he said, air still proving difficult but laughter all too easy, "You good?"