Drinking Party At 'Ferre's

[decipheredhieroglyphics]

Who: Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Bahorel, Bossuet - the Amis not lost in Africa (Joly, Jehan, you wanna come play too? -- no idea about Marius/Feuilly?)
Where: Combeferre's apartment.
Notes: Amis converge on 'Ferre's apartment for a night of drinking before they get serious about going after Enjolras and Grantaire who are currently, to their best knowledge, marooned somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Africa and very possibly in danger.

Status: ONGOING!

--


Combeferre had a little time before his friends came over, and decided to fill up the fridge a bit. He had been emptying it, part because he didn't want to leave anything perishable for when he was out of the country, and part from a lack of desire to trudge through the grocery store.

He picked up snacks and another six pack at the store, trusting that Bahorel and Courfeyrac at least would bulk up the booze supply, then, on the way back, stopped at the bookstore for some crash courses in Swahili. Maybe it wouldn't help, but it couldn't hurt -- better a chance of the locals speaking that than English or French, anyway.

Combeferre couldn't help worrying. Eight days now, with no word from Enjolras or Grantaire. He was still utterly and completely certain that Enjolras couldn't be dead, and he was less certain that Grantaire was stubbornly stuck to his side -- like, Courfeyrac had said, a barnacle. It was an apt description, anyway. He didn't expect, not really, that he and the others could just fly into Nigeria and take a powerboat down the river and find Enjolras and Grantaire huddled alone in a makeshift hut, ready and waiting to be rescued. No. If he knew Enjolras at all, his friends certainly weren't going to be waiting at the crash site--wherever it might be. He knew they'd have to find the crashed remains of the plane and ascertain a trail before they had any hope of finding Enjolras. And God knows how long that could take. Still, he wasn't despondent and he would hold out hope.

But what he shouldn't be doing, and he knew it, was worry himself to death. So he ruthlessly cleaned out the rest of the things in the living room. He piled the unsorted boxes in Enjolras' bedroom -- he considered it small payment for the worry and fuss his friend had been putting him through -- and tossed out all the old takeout remains from the past week. He figured it was clean enough for his friends, and loaded up the first Rosetta Stone disc while he waited for the others to arrive, or text him for directions.

Comments

[courfeyraccat]

Courfeyrac reaches down to dangle his fingers in front of the kitten's face, urging it on as it climbs up the couch. Lounging closer to Combeferre, he works on his second drink. "I'm not sure either of you would have any truly terrible movies, unless you've been hiding something from me. That's all right, though. We can put something foreign in without subtitles and make up our own script for it. Or, if you've got camera equipment, we can really try to make Nerium a web star. Or watch cats on the internet. Or, like you said to start, play a video game."

Maybe he's not going to need too many shots to get him thoroughly drunk. Between last night and all the worrying, apparently it's not going to take a great deal to make coherent thought disappear.

Leaning against Combeferre, he smiles as the kitten clambers all the way up onto the couch. "Have you ever had shots with good tequila? Because it's a lot nicer than the terrible stuff most people drink here, especially with a good fresh lime. I made sure we got some of the good stuff."

[revolution_is_a_riot]

"Mmm, that sounds good." Bahorel hops up off of the couch. "I'll pour some up. Who wants one?"

"Start up whatever you guys like. I'm not hard to entertain."

[decipheredhieroglyphics]

Idly, Combeferre reached out to pet Nerium, a bit pleased that the kitten arched up against his hand instead of biting him. "I still don't do shots, no matter how expensive your tequila is."

He scrunches his nose up, thinking. "I've got a camera in my bedroom. And most of the movies are silly stuff. Enjolras used to watch random TV on Netflix but I'm not sure we have any DVDs under there." He doesn't get up off the couch, though, not wanting to discourage Courfeyrac's cuddliness. At least, he doesn't right now. Who knows what would happen after more beer and liquor?

"I don't think we're really drunk enough yet, though."

He brightens. "There's also board games. I have Trivial Pursuit. And Monopoly. Those are with the movies."

[courfeyraccat]

"We only play Trivial Pursuit if it's all of us against you and if you have to take a drink every time you get something right." Courfeyrac smiles at Nerium and moves to pet the kitten. Nerium chomps at his fingers, and he pulls his hand back. Maybe teasing the kitten all evening hasn't been his brightest idea ever. He doesn't want her to think he's a chew-toy forever. "It'll give us a fighting chance of actually being in the game. Otherwise we can do Monopoly where you have to finish your drink every time you get a piece of property--shots for those of us who'll do them, something else for those who won't."

[revolution_is_a_riot]

"Guess I should just bring all the ingredients out, and we can pour things as needed then." Bahorel comments, and then emerges from the kitchen balancing a few bottles, some extra cups, and a lime.

He snorts as he sees Courfeyrac and Combeferre cuddled up on the couch. "Should I get the games as well, so you don't have to disturb your little moment?"

[decipheredhieroglyphics]

Combeferre elbows Courfeyrac out of the way. "You'd think you'd never seen me before," he says, crawling under the TV to fetch stuff.

Of course, things never quite go to plan. He pulled out the Star Wars box set and another box of DVDs before flinging the cupboard closed. "Okay, so the board games are MIA. It's possible Enjolras has hidden my Trivial Pursuit out of--revenge," he allowed sheepishly, "but I have no idea where they are."

Combeferre isn't drunk yet, though, and goes foraging in the hall closet to see if he can locate the misplaced games. "We might be stuck with karaoke and video games. And booze."

It was a bad idea to open the hall closet. He must have been cleaning again, and as soon as he opened the door, all his board games fell down on top of him, along with some other things he'd forgotten about. "--mmph!"

[courfeyraccat]

Courfeyrac jumps off the couch, struggling not to laugh as he shifts board games off of Combeferre. "You know, that house of bookshelves is apparently going to need some other types of shelves. I wasn't aware it was physically possible to fit this much stuff into a closet of that size. Oh, look! There's Trivial Pursuit. It seems to have acquired some Battleship pieces in the Great Closet Escape. Or maybe those are Risk pieces. Do you and Enjolras play at taking over the world for justice, democracy, and peace? I'm actually not sure who'd win that game. And what's this?"

Courfeyrac sifts through the pile of games, curious about what else has fallen out of the closet.

[revolution_is_a_riot]

Bahorel laughs at the sight of Combeferre's head and assorted limbs sticking out from under the mess of board game boxes and pieces. Setting down his alcoholic supplies, he trots over to help free 'Ferre and restore the games to some semblance of order.
"Nice work."

[decipheredhieroglyphics]

"Enjolras usually wins at Risk, actually," Combeferre muttered, disentangling himself. "Which is fair, I suppose, since I usually beat him at Chess." No need to point out who wins trivial pursuit. "There's Monopoly. And Life, and Battleship, and--huh, I forgot I had this much. Maybe I should've had you help me clean out my closet the other night, Courfeyrac,"

He shoved the board games together into a pile to be sorted--eventually, anyway, and separated out the stuff that wasn't board games.

A box that had fallen open. Oh. Crap. Would they be suspicious if he tried to hide this one ... good god, what was he thinking, Bahorel and Courfeyrac and Bossuet were not Enjolras, they'd definitely not ignore this one. So he tried to discreetly shove it back in the closet before the others poked through his collection, a collection he never bragged about or talked about.

He could've sworn he'd left the porn under his bed. Dammit. Maybe this was the stuff that had gone missing.

"Well, I suppose we have an even bigger collection of games to play than I thought." Maybe if he just ... shoved it back into the closet and distracted them, they wouldn't look in the box. Right?

[courfeyraccat]

Courfeyrac watches with one eyebrow slightly raised as Combeferre tries to shove a box back into the closet, being as discreet about it as one can be when standing knee-deep in a pile of board games.

Oh, what to do? Anything that makes Combeferre look so delightfully worried has to be good. To look or not to look, that's the question...

If Enjolras wasn't missing, there wouldn't even be a question. Teasing Combeferre is always too much fun to pass up. Will embarrassing him right now actually help with their current situation, though, or will it make things worse?

He can always come back and "find" the box after they play another game, he supposes. Maybe it'll be easier if they've had a bit more to drink.

Combeferre might even deserve it after a game of Trivial Pursuit.

[revolution_is_a_riot]

"What've you got there?" Bahorel asks with a grin.

'Ferre thought he had been subtle, shifting one of the boxes (a nondescript, unlabeled one, no less) carefully back into the shadows of the closet.
Curiosity and his ever-present sense of mischief surged up. What would Combeferre being trying to conceal? The bespectacled member of their group was always so quiet, usually buried in a book, or talking to Enjolras about something serious (and often boring). Certainly not the type Bahorel would imagine having closets full of incriminating secrets.

Or maybe just the sort of person.
One way to find out.

Slipping past his bespectacled friend, he makes a grab for the edge of the box.

[decipheredhieroglyphics]

"No, that's not--" What it wasn't, Combeferre isn't saying. He drops his pile of board games he'd started to gather up and makes a grab for the box, sputtering, red-faced. "Don't touch that!"

[courfeyraccat]

Well, this is too good to pass up. If they're discovering secrets, they're discovering secrets.

Lunging forward, he tries to get his hands on the box. "Pass it here, Bahorel!"

Worst-case scenario, it'll probably open and everything inside the box will join the rest of the scattered bits and pieces on the floor.

[revolution_is_a_riot]

Which exactly what happens as Bahorel, gripping the edge of the box, gives an enthusiastic tug. Between his powerful yank on the old cardboard, and Combeferre's stubborn grip on the other side, the brown material gives with a dull tearing sound.

DVDs, labeled with suggestive titles in a variety of brazen fonts over images with a certain tendency toward the flesh-toned inks, slipped out of the hole and added to the messy pile on the floor.

Bahorel's face splits into a great big grin.

[decipheredhieroglyphics]

Combeferre lets out a rather shocking curse word, and lunges for the videos, as though trying to hide them before his friends can get a good look.

"Couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?" He mumbles a few more curse words, just because he can. Now would be an excellent time for another beer. Or five.

[courfeyraccat]

"Oh, wow." Courfeyrac grabs a sampling of DVDs before Combeferre can attempt to hide them again. Some of them he recognizes; some he doesn't, which is saying something, though they all look tempting. "This gives us a whole new realm of possibilities for the evening. One I really would have expected me to introduce, but I'll take it. Oh, I like this one! The main trio's cute. Never heard of this one. Title's delightfully cheesy, with just a hint of kinky. Shall we put it on?"

(OOC: And unfortunately it's bed-time for this Courfeyrac again. Sometimes being a responsible adult is just no fun. We can have more porn shenanigans tomorrow. *grin*)

[revolution_is_a_riot]

"Fine by me." Bahorel glances over Courfeyrac's shoulder at the picture on the cover. "Even if porn's not my usual thing."

He steps over to Combeferre and gives him a hearty slap on the back. "What's wrong, you're looking a little red there, 'Ferre." He ruffles his flustered friend's hair. "Caught with your pants down, so to speak?" He asks with a chuckle.

(Ditto to 'Fey. Gah, if it wasn't for work tomorrow, I'd probably stay up a long time tonight getting these guys into trouble. :p Continue on the morrow?)

[decipheredhieroglyphics]

"It's not something I was expecting to be sharing with my friends."

Combeferre doesn't like women in his porn, and had hoped to not have to discuss his personal preferences with his friends, though apparently he wasn't about to get that option.

"I thought I'd put it all away. I should've known better." He sighs, running a hand through his hair, making his hair stick up all over the place. "I'm definitely not drunk enough for this," and veers off for more beer.

(No problem. :D Hopefully Bossuet comes out of hiding, too.)

[courfeyraccat]

"Nope. We aren't drunk enough for anything yet. But at this rate we'll get there quickly." Courfeyrac adds the videos that he had grabbed to the pile Combeferre had created before following after Combeferre.

He wonders, briefly, about the content of the videos. The ones he recognizes are all male-oriented; the ones he doesn't have covers and titles that suggest they're likely similar. Good information to file away for the future.

Resting his head on Combeferre's shoulder, he grins. "No need to turn so red. You have good taste in porn. If it'd make you feel better, I can let you see my collection sometime."

[revolution_is_a_riot]

Bahorel waves the DVD case he's still holding at Combeferre, and grins at the renewed shade of red which it makes him flush.
"So you're into the dudes, huh?" He studies the cover. Not bad, he supposes. But then, it was hard to be a porn star if you were ugly. Still, hard to tell from a glance if they were his type, or not.

"I wonder why so many of us turned out gay this time? Or at least, open to the idea." He muses outloud, tossing the film lightly down to join its kin. "I mean, was the potential always there, and it just took the right climate to bring it out?... Or was there something in the water when we were born?" He laughs.

Striding over to the the other two (who were nestled up close again, he notes), he puts on hand on both of their heads and pushes them forward, just enough to throw off their balance. "Guess I'll have to keep an eye on the two of you." He teases.

Walking past them he picks up the bottle of tequila, "You sure you don't want that shot, 'Ferre?"

[decipheredhieroglyphics]

Combeferre is halfway through his third beer when Courfeyrac starts snuggling with him. Again. "It's not about that. I--just didn't want to talk about it. At least, not tonight. I don't--" He cuts himself off, and sighs. "Maybe after we get back from Africa, Courfeyrac."

Maybe they had just enough beer in the fridge after all, and he lets himself lean slightly against his friend before fetching another two beers for himself.

"I'll pass on the tequila, Bahorel." He holds up the beer, as if to say 'this is good enough for me.'

"To answer your question, I thought I was straight until I got most of my memories back. Then ... well, women lost their flavour after that, somehow." He shrugs, figuring he might as well admit it now.

He isn't drunk enough to fall over when Bahorel tries to tip him over.