[Apr '04 MP] never have I ever... {party peeps}

Billie’s house, Maidstone, Kent, England | early April 2004
shortly after Truth or Dare ends

Truth or Dare had gotten a bit… intense… in the last few rounds, but Aase was somewhat surprised to discovered that she had enjoyed it more than  she’d expected. Whether that was entirely due to the small amount of alcohol she’d finally ended up agreeing to have or not was anyone’s guess (it was, in fact, mostly due to the alcohol) – but she did know that she wasn’t ready to be done with this type of game just yet. But she wasn’t quite keen on continuing the dares.

As the buzz of conversation and bickering washed over her, feeling pleasantly at peace with the world despite the surrounding commotion, an idea occurred to her. A different game, one that Freya had taught her a few summers ago: it was exactly half of Truth or Dare, and by that it was only truths, which was perfect. Truth or Dare had more or less dissolved, anyways.

Yes, yes, that was an excellent idea, if she did say so herself. Much safer to not have to actually do anything, especially something she might later wish she hadn’t. And, if worst came to worst, she could always… not tell the whole truth. Maybe even lie about it – and who would know? Probably no one. Maybe. Aase’s brown eyes went round at her own thought, and giggled quietly to herself at her devious plotting.

But how to get everyone’s attention?
The dark-haired Trickett was rather soft-spoken by nature, rarely raising her voice unless it was with genuine laughter or unbridled excitement. Quidditch had helped significantly with both her volume and her overall confidence, further augmented tonight by a dash of alcohol. Ultimately, it was the lattermost that likely encouraged her to take that next step.

Trying to be mindful of the drink in her hand, Aase raised her other hand and waved it about to try to catch at least a few people’s attention. Using her best ‘Quidditch voice’, she did her best to break into the buzz around her.
“Hellooo, hi!” She beamed once a few pairs of eyes had met hers. “Can we stop bickering now? I’ve another game, it’s called Never Have I Ever.”

Her eyes traveled around the partially-formed circle expectantly.
“Everyone know how to play? Self-explanatory, yeah? Good,” she continued without really giving anyone who didn’t a chance to say otherwise, anyways. Aase set her drink down so she could hold up ten fingers, then proceeded to wiggle them excitedly. The name of the game was to be the last one standing – and Truth or Dare had given her prime ammunition. But she was curious about other things, too.

“Right, so. Never have I ever…” – she paused for half a second, considering, then grinned – “…gone skinny dipping!”

She glanced quickly around the circle again, curious to see who would be down to nine fingers already.

Self-explanatory? Billie smiled, watched as Aase put her drink down, then copied the action. She didn’t put her hands up when her Hufflepuff friend did, but followed her friend’s gaze around the circle after she’d asked the question. “Is it a finger down if I have or haven’t done it,” She asked, leaning in so she could ask Barbara quietly, amused. She wondered if Barbie had ever played this game before, and assumed she hadn’t, based on the fact that Barbie was so much like her when it came to this sort of thing.

It would probably be easy to extrapolate the answer regardless, she thought, looking at who had or hadn’t put one down. Was it a drinking game, she wondered? Did they drink when they’d lost all of their fingers, or…? Billie glanced down at her own drink, a new one that someone had made for her. She felt light, floaty, sway-y kind of, like just moving was nice. It tasted like legitimate poison, or some kind of potion that was far past its use-by date, but the feeling was nice, and being included felt good. Billie felt bolder.

She glanced at Aase, unsure on how they decided an order with these kinds of things. Oh well. “Never — have I ever had a crush on someone in this circle,” She said, the pause after never giving her a moment to make sure she was playing it right. Her green eyes flicked to where Mavis and Killian were on the couch, a small smile on her lips before she glanced away. Cute. Cute in the way that made her want to play along when Nola teased them — cute in the way that made her miss her ex — but still cute.

Still no fingers down for her.

For someone so infamously private about his... entanglements you'd think he'd have dipped out of this particular game. One look at Alex's stupid gloating face and he'd been stubborn about joining. Which was stupid, considering he absolutely did not want his extracurriculars to become public knowledge. How racy could a game with a bunch of fifth years be, though, he reasoned as he took a seat and pretty much regretted it instantly. Who would've thought the innocent-looking Hufflepuff would've opened the game with that. With a faint blush on his face the tall Slytherin held up nine fingers, feeling a grin tug his lips up helplessly, as he made eye contact with Alex and shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'Take a guess who, though i'll never confirm it'.

He took another swig of his meade, frosty gaze slowly roving over Billie, as he took in her general state of being and confirmed to himself she seemed alright. Her words solidified that maybe this game wouldn't be too awful, and that maybe the Hufflepuff had just gotten lucky, going with the most outrageous thing she could think of. For him Billie's question was an easy one. He didn't know half the fifth years and as a rule Ben tended to favor older girls usually. Naivete didn't really do it for him and he tended to like a bit of fire in girls. Something about arguing a point sort of did it for him, most the time, though he did also like sweet. He guessed it sort of depended but he'd always steered towards the blond athletic types that liked to put him in his place, or tried to anyway. He was trying very hard not to think of Orlaith, though it was difficult.

"Never have I ever, gotten a hickey." he said, eyes roving over the crowd, as he grinned innocently at Alex. He'd blanked out for a second, feeling vaguely guilty he didn't immediately have something on hand for this, and then figuring he didn't much care. If something came up that would somehow compromise the integrity of a girl he'd been with enough he'd go back to his fallback: he'd bloody lie about it. He'd just have to be careful in case it was something Alex or Andy automatically knew he'd done.

She was distracted from her scan of the room by Billie’s voice beside her.
“Oh, put a finger down if you have done it! And take a sip of your drink when you do,” she interjected, matching her friend’s whisper. Billie had asked Barbie the question, but Aase was seated on Billie’s other side so she’d overheard. And the alcohol had rather loosened her tongue… so she continued.
“Once all your fingers are down, you’re out of the game. You want to be the last one with fingers still up, so you say something that you haven’t done but you know other people have done to try to get them out.”

Aase’s eyes darted back around the circle, then, hiding a mischievous smile at the few people she’d managed to catch. But they slid right back to Billie when it was her turn, and the Hufflepuff’s lower lip turned out in a playful pout as she put a finger down. Freddie hadn’t decided if he was playing or not, but he was in the circle…

One of the Slytherin Prefects, Ben, went next – and Aase found she was mildly surprised that he had never gotten a hickey, but had gone skinny-dipping (he was one of the ones she’d seen with a finger down before Billie had gone).

They still had quite a ways to go in the circle so she tried to be patient. Remembering she had forgotten to take a drink when Billie’s turn had caught her, Aase quickly did so then lifted both hands again, wiggling her nine remaining fingers.

Jari had been outside for a while, long enough that his pants were slightly damp from sitting in the April grass and long enough to miss out on truth-or-dare, not that he had minded. He’d taken his very first hit from something one of the older students had called a joint, and everything after that had been a bit of a haze. The Hufflepuff, in a classically Hufflepuff sort of way, had lost his jacket and imagined he’d lent it to someone who looked chillier than he felt, and he’d managed to make the group laugh at least twice, which he considered a big win. And now that he felt so triumphant, Jari realized he was hungry.

Like, really, hungry.

The teenager managed to get himself up off the grass after some lazy maneuvers. And somehow, he barely remembered the walk back to the Maidstone house even though the twelve steps felt like an epic adventure that lasted hours. The music pounded against his ears, and Jari felt like his heart was dancing at the same tempo. Everyone seemed a little happier than they had when the party started, or at least, a lot less reserved, and this made him smile, and Jari headed for the snacks table. He grabbed a plate, spooned himself a generous portion of Killian’s mac ‘n cheese, and then at least seven cookies from Aase’s tray before getting a drink too – why was his mouth so dry?

The cookies got cheesy on the way back to the living area, but Jari hadn’t noticed as he bit into one. The biscuit was still hanging out of his mouth as he saw his cousin and some of the others beginning a new game, and Jari took a seat. Balancing the tray of snacks dangerously on top of his knees, Jari eagerly held up his hands as the fun began. …gone skinny dipping! , Aase started the game, and Jari laughed at the first question. He wondered if it counted if it hadn’t been on purpose, but he put one finger down and took a drink anyway. Jari had never gone skinny dipping by choice, but there had been that one time in the black lake when his swim trunks had magically disappeared.

Next was Billie, and Jari smiled at her answer. Abby wasn’t playing this game, but he certainly would have been putting down another finger if she was. Instead, Jari took another bite of his cheesy chocolate chip cookie and waited for the next prompt. An older Slytherin and rival Quidditch player was next up, and Jari felt the heat rising in his cheeks as he moved down to only eight fingers left. He took another drink and washed the sour taste of beer out with more cookies. It was an absolute miracle that Jari had managed to keep track of his fingers, drink his beer, and not spill his food while they played the game, but now it was his turn, and his mind went blank.

He’d heard Aase’s explanation only moments ago and thanked the other Trickett silently for reminding him to mention something he had never done. “Never have I ever…. Licked a leaf from the Alihotsy tree….” Jari laughed as he said it, realizing he may not have done that, but he was still suffering from uncontrollable laughter anyway.