[MP] Not Really My Thing

[Erika Bellefonte]

Following his gaze, Erika snorted. "Go into any bathroom stall at the school and you'll easily find it - along with her full name." Erika almost rolled her eyes. Almost. As for his question... She looked around. "Well, most of these people are teenagers, so..." She recognized some, but not all. Bathroom-Stall girl was always easy to recognize.

"When no one knows your face, you won't feel bad about having a few too many. No one's going to know it's you." She turned her head towards him once more, taking a sip from her drink. "Kind of liberating, I suppose."

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor chuckled at Erika's response. He didn't seem nearly as disgusted by the description of the girl even though he did attempt to hide the fact that he was making a mental note to look her up later on. He wasn't usually about cheap sex and quick flings but sometimes it was liberating to throw caution to the wind once in a while. And the harder he had to work at the caution throwing the better.

"That makes sense." He replied with a nod and another sip of his drink. He was starting to get a bit of a buzz going already which wasn't really out of the norm. He'd downed a lot more alcohol than he would readily admit the moment he got to the party and was steadily adding to the list of drinks. "It's bullshit though." Came the added counter. He said the words in a flat, even tone. He glanced to Erika to gauge her reaction before elaborating. "The idea that no one knows anyone else." He gestured out toward the clusters of people. "They're wearing masks, not panda costumes." Why pandas? Hell if he knew. "Look. See. Jerry, Lisa, Connie." He pointed the people out one by one. "That one kid in psych that sits in the back and plays games on his computer when he thinks no one's looking." Taylor waved a hand. "It's a false sense of security."

[Erika Bellefonte]

"Says the guy whose power is the only thing that proves useful within these walls." Yes, she had actually checked him out. Partly out of interest, and partly because she didn't want another Jack McCarthy on her hands. Shaking her head then, Erika took another sip of her drink. "I don't know, man," she continued. "I recognize people, sure, but there's a lot of strangers here too." He made sense, of course, but wearing a mask did offer some layers of protection too.

"False or no, I still think it does something to people." Even she felt a little more secure beneath her mask. She offered him a small smile. "I don't wanna take their security blanket off, but then again, I'm not a cranky old man," she finished with a wink.

[Taylor McCarthy]

Okay, so maybe Erika had a point. Taylor would never fool anyone into thinking he was a genius though he'd become remarkably adept at faking it due to his power. It wasn't his fault he processed information more efficiently allowing him to catch tiny, minute details that others would miss. Surely anyone could notice the way Jerry was favoring his right side, which was the side he'd taken a hard fall on during basketball practice earlier that day, or that Connie (who he was talking to) tended to do this little thing with her hands when she was nervous. And it was hardly a feat that Taylor had managed to spot the small, dark circle on that one kid's right wrist that singled him out as someone who had spent hours with his hand on a mouse playing games.

"Cranky?" Taylor laughed out loud at that one. It was a good thing he hadn't taken a drink or he might have sprayed it all over the person standing next to him. "I am as far from 'cranky' as you can get." He insisted before offering a shrug. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just not as interested in the idea of putting a mask on and pretending to be something I'm not."

[Erika Bellefonte]

"Well, that doesn't mean it's wrong," she said, offering his shoulder a light push. Amusement colored her eyes once more. "I don't think you expected to come here and find yourself being the most judgmental person in the room." She was teasing of course and didn't honestly think he meant to be, but even he had to realize how he came across.

Downing her drink, she placed the empty glass on the bar. "Another one, please," she said towards the not-so-busy bartender. She looked at Taylor then. "You should worry less about what other people are doing."

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor gave pause then and thought over the stance he'd held throughout the night. Slowly he started to nod. Erika had a point. He didn't care much what anyone else was doing, rather he was merely speaking from his own, personal point of view. Those milling about the party could go about doing whatever they wanted, who was he to levy judgement? He wasn't anything special or even that smart to begin with.

"Point taken." He said before downing the rest of his drink. The bartender gave Taylor an expectant look but the Irishman waved him off. It was a good time to let the booze settle in and see where his buzz ended up without going too far. "Okay." He said finally, clearing his throat and turning his attention back to Erika. "So, say I'm buying into all this." And he was. The straight, even manner in which he spoke showed plainly that he was going to give this whole thing a shot. "I get me a mask, put it on and..." He wasn't all that sure what came next. "I go... talk to people?"

[Erika Bellefonte]

Erika arched her eyebrow. "You do whatever you want to do," she said, though gave it a moment's pause before continuing. "Just don't break anything - or steal." She considered for a moment. "And my bedroom is off limits." Then, he probably didn't know where her bedroom was. "The room with the window seat is mine," she clarified with a shrug.

Hey, she didn't want anyone to dirty up her childhood bedroom before she ever got the chance to. Not that that would happen anytime soon, but she'd still like the option to.

[Taylor McCarthy]

A low snicker escaped then. Slowly he turned his head to look at Erika. She had just told him not to do something which now, suddenly, made him want to do just that. He wouldn't, of course, respecting other people's homes was, surprisingly enough, fairly high on his list of priorities. Still, the temptation to at least break away and scrounge around until he found a bedroom that might be hers was greater than he'd admit.

"Alright then." It sounded to Taylor like it was just your everyday, average party with the added trick of those supposedly 'liberating' masks in place to help people relax and let loose. That had never been a problem with Taylor even before he'd gotten a pretty good buzz going. "That's easy enough." He gave a short nod before chuckling to himself. "Hey." He reached over and gave Erika's arm a nudge then pointed across the room where Bathroom Stall Girl had lost her footing and went sprawling to the floor, nearly dragging the basketball player she'd been talking to on top of her. "Yep." Taylor said with a satisfied nod. "Called it." Maybe Erika was right and that girl was someone to avoid.

[Erika Bellefonte]

Following his gaze, Erika chuckled. "Well, that wasn't exactly a hard one." It wasn't the first, nor would it be the last time that girl had one too many drinks. Erika liked to think of herself as less judgmental as her peers, but in truth, even she couldn't help herself from time to time. Perhaps some of her mother's lessons had sunk in. She almost shuddered at the thought.

"Hopefully she'll sober up before the party ends." She'd rather not find herself waking up in the morning with people sleeping all over the place. She didn't exactly want to deal with something like that while nursing a hangover.

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor could only shrug with a big, stupid grin on his face. Okay, so he had gone for the low hanging fruit with that one but he was still counting it. It wasn't as if he had a long list of academic or intellectual successes in his wake to lean on. The rare moment when he was not just able to catch some subtle nuance in a person's behavior but also know what the hell it meant was something of a feather he'd defiantly place in his cap. "It still counts." He pointed out.

"I think her date is hoping she doesn't." Taylor nodded in the direction of the other party goer who had issued an obviously fake laugh when the girl had toppled over. "Look at him. Sorry bastard. Picking out the drunkest chick at the party to try and go home with." Taylor's head shook, though the amusement showed plainly on his face. "Can you imagine being so desperate?" Because Taylor was pretending alcohol hadn't played a significant role in many of his own poor decisions over the years.

[Erika Bellefonte]

"I try not to judge the actions of other people," she attempted. At least, she wished she didn't. "Maybe he's had a crush on her since forever?" She looked at the girl, then back at the boy, head shaking. Yeah, probably not. He didn't exactly look as if he was about to swoon by her feet. In fact, she wasn't willing to go into detail explaining the expression he carried.

"Anyway," she continued, brushing the images off. "What about you?" she asked, curiously tilting her head. "Anyone you were hoping to see here tonight?" She didn't think Taylor was the type to have anyone special in his life. At least, not romantically. Or rather, she couldn't quite see anyone being interesting enough for him to be tied down.

[Taylor McCarthy]

"Of course you don't." Taylor chuckled again, casting Erika a sideways glance. For a brief moment he wondered if she was so open and nonjudgmental because that was simply how she viewed the world or if it was born from some innate dislike of being judged herself. He knew the score. Sometimes he felt like the only person who realized she shared the same name as the one on the large, stone marker just outside the Academy gates and didn't give a single damn about it. "Because you're the perfect princess and you must love everyone." There was no contempt or malice in Taylor's voice only some playful banter. He wasn't close enough to Erika to treat her like family and truly insult her but it was still his way of showing affection to those few he didn't mind being around.

What followed Erika's next question went far beyond 'chuckle' and moved fully into outright laughter. If Taylor had been drinking at the time he would have sprayed the guy standing beside him with liquor. "No." He said once the laugh had fallen away. "Not a chance." He waved a hand dismissively. "I'm not making that mistake again." His head shook and he issued an amused sigh at the thought. "You though," he shot Erika another look, this time with sly grin on his face, "You got, what? Probably five guys trying to get into your pants? Maybe a couple girls?" Because there always seemed some sort of competition for her affections going on, didn't there?