Survival Of The Fittest

[ Julien Leblanc continued from The Good in Everyone ]

Now this was more like it. Sure, Julien had needed to make his way upstairs through the maze of people to reach this room, but it was well worth the effort.

A nice and quiet place, but still close enough to the party that he could return from the lower orbit he'd found his way out to if he felt it was needed. Nobody else was occupying the room yet too, but if that happened to change they would find someone else to greet them and either accept the presence of someone else or leave, depending on what they were looking for. Either would suit him just fine.

For now, though, his companions were his phone and the cocktail in his hand, the only one that was likely to grace his lips for the length of this party. It wouldn't do to get drunk and ride the Yamaha back home. Too likely to wind up accidentally steering into an oncoming car with a passenger being ferried home on the back, because he'd likely wind up stepping in for someone too drunk to get home on their own.

That, thankfully, was something that Julien didn't need to worry about right now.

((Sierra Cook continued from Feels Like Summer...))

This party was just what Sierra needed all week. Just a great way to unwind after stress and work of daily life, but with so much chaotic energy going around from the dancing, to the music, to people just getting straight up wasted, she needed a little time to breath.

While she would normally go outside, there were just as many people gathered around outdoors as there was in and frankly she just wanted to relax and regain some of her energy with as few people as possible before rejoining the scene. The heat and the energy was just getting to her a little, so she got herself a drink and tied her jacket around her waist as she ventured off into the rest of the house to find a nice little quiet place. A task that proved easier said than done given just how many people were here partying it up.

She managed to navigate her way through the throngs of party goers enough to find herself upstairs in search of a room. Still quite a few people on this floor but thankfully not as many as downstairs. Still, she could go with less people than what was currently present.

She approached a door, opened it and entered the room and looked around. The room was certainly quieter thanks to being further from the action, but there was still someone in here. Some guy, he looked familiar but she couldn't put a name to him. A thought told her she has seen him around school but she was honestly blanking on a name here. She kinda recalled that he hung out with that bitch Faith, which... well... yeah. Shit taste in friends if he isn't an asshole like Faith or Wyatt.

"Oh, I, uh, didn't know anyone was already in here." She said. She looked around again, scanning for other signs of life. "I'm... not interrupting anything, right?"

Talk about speaking too soon.

"Well, technically you're interrupting me being alone. But the disturbance is welcome."

Sierra wasn't exactly who Julien was expecting to show up. He was hardly unaware of what she thought about Faith, and some preconceptions about him would be inevitable; friends all turning against someone together was hardly uncommon here, and like did have a tendency of attracting like.

But losing his head over Faith time and again, letting her become as much his problem as his friend, could hardly be called living his best life by a long shot. Axel and Lorenzo... Well, throwing punches at people who could take them and throw them back was one thing. Beating up on someone who just tried to run away and tossing money at him... what the fuck had he been thinking?

So he wouldn't hold anything against her for it unless, like other things had been, it was made his problem. Julien sincerely hoped it wouldn't be.

"Feel free to join me. It's not as obnoxiously loud up here, I've got more where this," Julien held up the bottle he'd been taking slow sips from, "came from if you want and besides, it's not as if there isn't enough room to go around."

Lucky for him that a good way to be the change he wanted to see in himself had just happened to appear before him, really, here of all places. Or a good start, at least.

"Alright, cool." She said, closer the door behind her.

It was quieter in here for sure, especially now that the door to the rest of the house had been closed. Now there was just the muffled thumping of the music that could slightly be heard through the closed door and the floor. It was a god send if ever there was one.

"So what brings you here?" She asked, approaching with her arms folded while looking around the room. "I kinda came up here to refresh and then I'm going back out there. So what about you? Same idea? Waiting on someone?"

It really wasn't any of her business, but she was just the least bit curious about her new companion's motives for secluding himself from the rest of the party. If anything she was just being polite while in the room with him. It would be super awkward if both of them were in here together and they were just silent the whole time until one of them said "I have to go." She was just asking out of polite courtesy than anything else.

"I'm not one for dealing with that many people at once for too long."

Well, that and Forrest had left a rather distinct impression on what some would be up to here, and that wasn't something Julien wanted to wind up caught up in for various reasons.

"Not waiting for anyone though." He said, taking another draught of the drink in his hands and letting the warmth fill him up. "I'd say I'm plenty happy with the company I've found myself in now, actually." There wasn't any antagonism here after all, just the slow rolling of a conversation that had only just started, and that could be changed with some work put into it.

"So, do you happen to be here for anyone in particular yourself?"

One question warranted another. Though Julien did hope it wouldn't come off as too pointed for Sierra's liking, doubtful as it seemed; old habits died hard and all.

"Not particularly." She shrugged casually. "I'm here for myself mostly. Like I said, just in here to refresh and then head back out. I love to come to parties whenever I can. It helps me unwind, ya know?"

Sierra sipped her drink as she walked over to the bed that was in the room and took a seat. "I wouldn't have mind coming for a friend either, mind you. Lot of people I like come to these things. Although, some people I hate come to these as well." Faith was one such person to come to mind, and Sierra was pretty sure that she saw that slut wandering around downstairs a few times. She did well to avoid her, more interested in enjoying the company of other more tolerable party goers and just trying to enjoy herself while she was here. Of course she'll probably keep her thoughts on Faith to herself since she was pretty sure that Julian wouldn't like Sierra bad-mouthing his friend.

"And, uh, I don't mind the present company as well."

Which was true. Julian was being polite enough, and even if he was friends with a conservative cunt like Faith, she wasn't gonna judge him too hard for it. After all, Beryl is friends with a lot of... questionable people but that didn't stop Beryl from being a damn sweetheart.

"How're you likin' the party?"

"Yes, I understand what you mean."

Julien was here to escape his own friends as much as anything else, in truth. He had come here with Faith, yes, but knew going into this that she would quickly busy herself in the throng of the party and so he wouldn't have to worry about her for a while. Myles and Ivy were unlikely to cross paths with him of their own volition, so that was another one ticked off of the list as well.

"And the party's not bad so far. But I figured this would be the sort of thing where I'd wind up needing to make my own fun." His own drink was only about a quarter empty at this point and he'd been in here drinking for a little while before Sierra made her appearance; a good enough pace to keep in his book. Julien did feel another sip was in order though, and it wasn't like anybody was about to stop him.

"By the way... Thank you. And I'm not an extension of Faith, so please don't expect any of that from me." He smiled.

Hmm... Do I care to go playing with fire any more than I already have, I wonder? This could go disastrously.

Of course, on the other hand it could be just the thing he needed. Fostering the needed result from the pleasant ambivalence they currently had going wasn't something that Julien had even considered doing in such a short frame of time before. However, there was only one way to find out if he could manage or not.

"Say, if you're only here for yourself then it wouldn't be such a problem if I took up some more of your time, would it now?"

"Yeah, don't mention it."

So it seemed that it was he who was going to address the little elephant in the room about his relationship with a certain President Canon Lite. She wasn't even gonna mention it but if he was going to then that was his right. Though the topic of his friendship with Faith began and ended with him thanking Sierra for not judging him for it. So the least she could do was not keeping the topic going. It was dead and buried as far as she was concerned so long as he didn't act like a complete prick all of a sudden.

"I don't care if ya do." She shrugged, taking another sip of her drink. By this point the plastic red cup was almost half empty. She'll probably get a refill once she was done here. "This has been pleasant enough so I don't mind the company. Long as you don't become an asshole in the next few minutes I'll keep talking to ya."

If you do I'll just drop you like I did Faith. She thought.

"So... feel free to talk I guess." She said. "I don't have much in the way of conversation topic at the moment.

"Funnily enough, I was actually going to ask you about, ah, you."

Julien had heard an awful lot said about Sierra, but not much of note beyond Faith's problems with her, and he had found himself curious about what was on the other side of that more than once. Now he had her here, what better way to find out more than from the lady herself?

That and it was a fairly reliable way of finding something to work with.

As he drank a little more, he considered the person sitting in front of him. Julien wasn't overly perturbed by the idea of looking straight at Sierra, since skirting the line of looking and staring was part of the point. Intent was a fickle thing, so easily twisted out of alignment, but he was nice and relaxed. The vodka evened out his nerves nicely and lit up that comfortable warmth that was all too welcome; amazing what a little poison could do with the right touch.

Sierra cocked an eyebrow in curiosity. He wanted to ask about her? She supposed it made sense, after all the only real source of info on her he probably has was Faith, and Faith probably had a real biased opinion on her. So she was here now and what better source of information on a person than the person themselves? Unless they were one of those people who wouldn't shut the fuck up about themselves.

Sierra could probably name a few of those people at the school. Hell, they're probably at the party.

She brought her plastic cup back to her lips, throwing her head back and gulping down the remainder of his drink. She pulled the cup way and let out a satisfied sigh, the beer still sweet on her lips. With a hum, Sierra carefully put the cup down — making a mental note not to forget it for later — and stretched a little where she sat. She leaned back a little on the bed, placing her hands behind her to keep herself propped up as she looked at Julian.

"M'kay." She muttered, the booze making its way into her system. "What do ya want to know? I've got lots of shit to talk about on this subject. So start where ever, dude." She shot him a wry grin. "Though to save you time, before you ask anything regarding that bi- Faith, just know that whatever opinion she has of me, chances are it is the same opinion I have in regards to her. So save yourself the energy and avoid that subject."

Probably for the best. She thought. It would really ruin the mood.

"I suppose we'll need to get one more thing straight as well. It's you I'm interested in here, not Faith."

Julien could hardly be annoyed about it from where he stood. It was the inevitable cloud that hung over the company he kept, and having to make the effort of distinguishing himself from them every once in a while was an excellent method of reinforcing the separation it created.

Well, it was in theory. He had hardly kept the best track record of being more even-tempered than the likes of Faith and Wyatt. Though, sitting here and supposing on it, it was fed into by him hating so much of what he saw.

Demetri once made a joke with him about being Vice-president of the friend zone over a game of poker. Julien had laughed and gone along with it at the time, and he occasionally did since, because it suited him to let Demetri think that he too was on some chase for a thing he couldn't attain instead of simply biding his time, waiting for the inevitable. There was a good reason they didn't play for money.

It hardly excused everything he'd done, though. To think otherwise would be to claim that willful ignorance made him a better man. His faults were growing too wide not to be seen to, and that couldn't be done when he was standing in the middle of them all. And now, conveniently, a chance to step away had presented itself.

"So, what else classes as unwinding in your book? Can't all be quite as loud as this, surely."

That was only a part of this, though. Sierra deserved to be more than a convenient mask for him to hide that behind. Truth be told, Julien liked what he saw. And hopefully it would go a little further than just seeing before the night was done.

"Fair enough." She said with a shrug. If he didn't want to talk about Faith then she wasn't going to raise a stink over it. Sierra hated that bitch anyway, so not having to talk about her was great.

"There are a few things that help me unwind, I guess." She explained, leaning forward and making eye contact with her conversation partner. "I like to go on walks through the woods, draw some of the things I see. A walk in the park is also good. Practicing archery can also be relaxing in its own way." She paused for a moment, looking up towards the ceiling in thought before continuing. "And occasionally I get high."

She looked to Julian, studying his facial features to see if she could gauge his thoughts to what she had said. She didn't quite know what sort of sign she was looking for, just something that could give away his true thoughts even if his words said otherwise. Some twitch of the eyebrow, some furrowed brow, a wrinkled lip that could say "Bitch I don't care." Something, anything. It was sometimes hard to believe that someone would want to know something about someone without wanting something in return. She was cynical like that.

Although, she had to admit he wasn't exactly unpleasant to look at. Although that may be the booze talking.

"Any other questions?"

Even if he did judge her for what she'd said, it certainly wasn't going to show on his face.

An artist, huh? It wasn't what he would have guessed at a glance. But Julien was familiar with nature enthusiasts liking to record some of the things they saw one way or another, so it came as little surprise. The drugs... that simply wasn't his thing. He didn't hold what others liked to do against them. Well, not in the vast majority of cases. Seeing the state of Forrest affirmed it wasn't something he'd ever get personally involved with, though.

"Of course; there's so much more to know, after all. Ah... Favourite thing to draw?"

Sierra thought for a moment, pondering the question. What was her most favorite thing to draw? It was hard to say, she mostly just drew whatever the hell she felt like. Typically she just used whatever she saw that she liked and used it as her model for her art. She guess the answer would be rather what she drew the most whenever she committed to her art.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Animals, I guess. Although it is usually whenever I see them and if they are sitting still long enough for me to, ya know, actually draw them."

She raised her hands up above her head, flopping backwards onto the bed, the springs of the mattress squeaked and groaned from the action. Looking up at the ceiling, Sierra rested her hands behind her head, her muscles relaxing as she laid there on the bed. Pretty comfy bed all things considered. Must be one of real expensive beds made to help with your back or whatever. Rich folk could afford shit like this unlike her middle class family.

"Sometimes I doodle tattoo designs." She said, her neck careening a little to look at Julian. "Ya know, shit I'd think would look cool put onto me. I got a lot of canvas to cover, just not the money."

She grimaced slightly at the thought. She was behind on her money making plans. At this rate she'll be stuck with her parents forever.

"Tattoos, hm? I've considered getting one myself, once or twice. Never could make my mind up on what it'd be though."

Well, that wasn't entirely true. Julien had decided it would be a tree, but the specifics had always eluded him. Summer, autumn, winter? Cherry blossom, sycamore or something a little more out there? He'd wanted to be precise about the mark of his choosing, which ended up being the very reason he set the idea aside. For the time being, at least.

He eased himself out of the chair that he'd been perched in, moving over to sit at the end of the bed Sierra was laying on. There was enough room, so he was just fine where he was and nobody was being sat on or anything of the sort.

"Got any designs on you, or tattoos to show? As long as you're alright showing them off," he took an absent-minded glance at his phone before looking her way and draining some more of his glass.