After playing several rounds of their voting game, Elodie realizes that people on their staff team actually seem to know each other. Other than Jerry and Ro, she is the one lagging behind. While she knew that Benedict was busy and clever, she had no idea that in addition to working as an RA, he also works as a tutor with the Accessibility department and helps out at Darnley University's radio station. She barely even remembers that there is a campus radio station. She knew that Galilee grew up Morgan, but didn't know she had nearly as many siblings as Jesus had apostles. Elodie mostly brushes it off. Perhaps she should spend more time listening in staff meetings.

Darlington is so drunk he doesn't think he could walk in a straight line. He keeps slumping over, leaning on Moonie who is seated next to him. He is barely aware that they giggle when he presses up against them, and even less aware that Tempest pulls him away every time.

"Keep it together," Tempest doesn't order, she prays. Darlington has watched over her and so she is returning the favour. If she must drag him up the stairs at the end of the night, then she will. After all, his state is mostly due to his selfless act to save her.

"Okay, okay," Maverick says, hiccupping. He tries to hold in his laughter, unaware that Moonie has their eyes fixed on him. "Who is most likely to eat something off the ground?"

Everyone digs through their cards. Elodie pulls hers up last, noticing that she is the only one who didn't pick Jerry. She holds up Marcellus' name.

He sticks his tongue out at her, and she returns the gesture.

"Okay, okay," Maverick laughs again. "Who's..."

Darlington stands up abruptly. He grabs Moonie's wrist, yanking her up with him. He nearly topples over, and Moonie and Tempest have to act quickly to prevent him from falling.

"I love you guys," Darlington says. "You both are so great."

"Maybe we should sit down, Darlington," Tempest tries to whisper to him, but he ignores her.

"Let's play flip cup!" he shouts. "Come on, Moons. I need you on my team. Moonie."

Unable to move without causing Darlington to topple over, Moonie struggles to coax him down. He takes a step forward and then they let their sturdy feet guide Darlington to the table pushed off in the corner.

"He's so fucking blasted," Marcellus chuckles to Ro beside him, taking a sip from his cup. "Somebody should film this."

"I would, but I can't look away," Ro whispers back, "it's like watching a train crash. Or like, finding out a pro-life politician paid his mistress to have an abortion."

Oblivious to their conversation, Maverick gets up. He bows in front of Elodie, offering her his hand, "shall we, my lady?"

She rolls her eyes but takes it. He leads her in a waltz, spinning her across the floor. She laughs along the way. Maverick likes the sound. Elodie's sweet melody. He giggles to himself.

Marcellus and Ro go as well, whispering to each other about how they want to get the best look at the ongoing disaster that they can.

"Is..." Galilee struggles to find the proper words in her mouth. "Is Darlington okay? He seems kind of drunk."

"I don't think he's going to remember any of this," Callie smiles to herself but swallows something in her throat. Was the drink that strong? It seemed like it would be more gross than intoxicating. Then, she looks over at Galilee's face. It's red, and there is sweat beading on his forehead. "Hey, Gals, he's okay."

"He's just..." Galilee trails off. She turns to Callie, her eyes struggling to stay put on her face. Callie is so beautiful. Her icy blue eyes are chilly, but Galilee likes the cold so she has an excuse to snuggle. Her strawberry blonde hair hangs in curls, perfectly round, and her red lips betray so much emotion. Callie has the quirk of a smile when she is up to something mischievous, or when she uses the staff room to do homework for art history, she bites her lip as she thinks.

The table across the room groans and Galilee is sure that Darlington has slammed into it. Really, Maverick, Benedict, and Jerry are dragging the table away from the wall so that there is room for teams on both sides. Darlington is still on top of Moonie, twirling her hair between her fingers.

"Wait, do you think Darlington likes Moonie?" Callie's jaw drops, as she pulls in Galilee closer to whisper.

Galilee tries to pull out of the touch but can't. She swallows, "I mean, he seems pretty drunk."

"You know what they say about sober thoughts," Callie keeps whispering. She can feel how rigid Galilee is beside her, and it occurs to her that Galilee might have a crush on Darlington. It would explain the flush, the stutter, and the nerves. She shakes her head. "But yeah, he's pretty drunk. I don't think he's thinking clearly."

Galilee tips her head slightly to look better at Darlington. Benedict has pulled him away, and they are now two teams forming on either side of the table. Darlington is paired opposite Moonie, and next to Elodie. Jerry and Ro are also on their team. Beside Moonie is Maverick, and then Benedict and Marcellus. Tempest is positioned to be the referee.

"Come on," Callie drags Galilee up. They join the others at the table, and they are quickly paired along the line, at the very end.

"Okay," Tempest has a stopwatch pulled up on her phone, mostly so she doesn't seem idle. She is so thankful that there are eleven of them in Pearcher House so that one person must sit out. "Are we ready?"

"Fuck yeah," Maverick raises his glass in the air and whoops. He then winks at Elodie, "I'm going to destroy you."

"Yeah, we'll see," Elodie shakes her head.

"Alrighty," Tempest says. "On my count. Ready, set, go!"

Darlington is up first, alongside Moonie. They feel that Darlington's intoxication makes the pair an unfair match, so they purposefully go slow. Then, they realize that their first few attempts are awful, so they speed up. Everyone is cheering around them, shouting and laughing.

Benedict is drunk enough that he isn't consumed by the noise. With eleven of them, their excitement can sometimes be overwhelming. The alcohol helps the noise become a buzz. He loves music, but the music goes together. Usually, the pieces fit. There is less dissonance and fewer polyphonic rhythms. The cacophony of tonight would usually be unbearable. He supposes that if he must be inside for a few days before Christmas, it isn't awful to be here, drunk, with these people.

Darlington passes the cup to Elodie just before Moonie is successful. Yet, Elodie fumbles on her first three attempts. Maverick's whole line explodes when he successfully flips the cup on his first attempt.

Elodie succeeds just after him.

The sight of Maverick, pounding his chest and jumping, makes Elodie double over in laughter. She almost pees herself.

Jerry and Benedict are quite deliberate in their flips. Jerry takes at least ten seconds to set up his cup before each attempt. Benedict decides his game is one of speed. Jerry beats him, but Marcellus is still cheering him on, loudly.

Ro doesn't go to parties, and she is in computer engineering, not mechanical. All this to say, she is awful. Benedict gets the cup to Marcellus, and Marcellus beats her, passing it on to Galilee. Ro speeds up. The cup lands, her heart racing, hands pounding on the table.

She passes the cup to Callie. Galilee flips the cup, and it lands upright. Their side of the table explodes. The others begin to drink. Maverick races over to Galilee. He picks her up nearly throwing her in the air. He pushes her onto his shoulders. Galilee laughs, holding her hands up to the ceiling to steady herself.

"Show off," Elodie laughs. Marcellus and Benedict are also going buck wild, and Moonie peers over at Maverick and Galilee.

Something bubbles in Moonie, something they aren't used to feeling. So, when Darlington makes a wide gesture, knocking into the table and nearly falling on top of it, Moonie uses the distraction to slip out of the group. They prop open the staff lounge door with the door stopper and slip into the washroom nearby.

"We can do better," Jerry says, massaging his chin. He looks at Ro, "I could teach you techniques."

"You're an idiot sometimes, Jerry," Ro takes a sip of her drink, watching as the others do damage control on Darlington's mess. Galilee is still on Maverick's shoulders, but he seems to have calmed down.

"I know," Jerry agrees. "I did get a better time than you."

"Whatever," Ro says, as she tries to suppress a grin. Maybe next semester, she can do something like this again. It has been quite fun to watch a bunch of people make public fools of themselves.

Darlington's shirt is soaked. He starts to take it off, but Tempest forcefully pulls it down.

"Let's get you cleaned up," she struggles against him. "Come on. There are paper towels in the bathroom."

She forces Darlington out of the door.

Jerry and Ro are in an intense rematch, practicing over and over, which Benedict and Maverick watch. For the first time in a while, Maverick feels almost at ease. He hadn't realized the tense situation was making him so snappy. At least, this is the most fun he has had over the winter holidays in years.

"It's not shit, huh?" Marcellus says to Benedict.

"Well, everything is pretty bad," Benedict doesn't necessarily agree, but he does smile. "Although, we could be stuck with whichever Goldie you said was a bitch."

"Man, shut up," Marcellus laughs.

Outside, Darlington and Tempest struggle into the women's washroom. She feels weird about going into the men's and he's drunk to feel anything but weird. The door bursts open, and Moonie muffles their sob at the sound.

Tempest and Moonie spot each other. Moonie's hands are on the sink, their face bright red and their cheeks puffy. They wipe the tears off their face.

"Darlington, let's go into the other bathroom," Tempest offers.

"Oh," he seems to come to, "hey, Moonie."

Moonie offers him a timid smile.

"It's fine," Moonie says, trying not to cry. "I'm fine."

Tempest stares up at the bright ceiling lights. She isn't sure that this night could get worse for any of them, but especially for Darlington.

"It's all right, Temmy, I've got this," Darlington says.

"Temmy?" she says. In that split second, Darlington moves out of her grip. He makes it to Moonie across the room, pulling her into a tight hug. She smiles, leaning into his touch.

Then, she makes Darlington pull back, "we're good, Tempest. I've got him. Go take a break."

Tempest's eyes wander back and forth between the two of them. Her shoulders relax. She does need a break, or she's going to get stress hives, which probably isn't good for the baby. Besides, Darlington did so well comforting her about the baby. They'll be fine.

When she leaves, Moonie sighs. Darlington stumbles over to the wall, leaning against it. Moonie walks to the paper towel dispenser and grabs some. After drying their eyes, they return to Darlington and help him with the alcohol split on his shirt.

"This is going to smell tomorrow," they say. "I've got stain remover if you don't."

"Here," Darlington pulls off his shirt, clumsily, and hands it to Moonie. Without all the noise, he feels soberer. At least, there is less going on for him to miss.

Moonie balls the fabric in their fists. They turn to the sink, putting the shirt inside and beginning to wash out the alcohol, to at least get rid of some of the smell. They try not to look at Darlington, especially not his broad shoulders, but also especially not his muscular arms, but also, especially everything else.

"Hey," Darlington says. He reaches up to Moonie's face and wipes away a lingering tear. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," they answer, sniffling. "Just... I guess I'm an emotional drunk. An ugly crier too."

"You're a beautiful drunk," Darlington smiles. Then, he chuckles, "well, you're beautiful sober too, and I guess a beautiful crier, but I wish you weren't crying."

"I'm okay," Moonie turns to him. He can see the tears in their eyelashes. He's so right. They are so beautiful. "Just, love troubles."

"How could you possibly have love troubles?" he asks.

Moonie laughs. Darlington tilts their face toward him, and their laughter abruptly stops, cut off. Now, Moonie cannot help but look at Darlington. He is so handsome, and maybe not as bad as everyone seems to think. The liquor, Moonie decides, is what's causing it. This hopefully won't last tomorrow. They suppose that it's enough for tonight.

Moonie leans in and kisses Darlington. He grabs them tightly, pulling them into a tight embrace and breathing her in. Maybe not everyone here is an asshole.

~~~~~

If I were to title this, it would be something like AHHHHHHHHHHH. Just, so much AHHHHHHHHHH. Also, this chapter wasn't originally planned, but I'm really glad it's in here. It's something for my teeth to sink into. If you had to guess the next bad thing that will happen, what would you guess?