victor frankenstein had always liked to believe that he was not a man who shied away from hard work, but thiswas already testing his limits. mentally, he might be driven and stubborn, but physically, he was not exactly the peak of strength — looking around at the magnitude of the tasks they’d have to do in order to prepare this camp for next summer was already more than enough to exhaust him. this crumbling, derelict place was certainly a far cry from the idyllic wilderness retreat that victor had been picturing when he had signed up.
it was all the worse, too, that everyone here seemed to already have their close friendships made. victor was a solitary sort by nature, but even hewas not immune to the uncomfortable prickles of loneliness and a sense of exclusion. everyone here seemed to know everyone else, and whenever there was a free moment, they all seemed to gravitate into groups or pairs, which left victor standing awkwardly to the side with no idea of what to do or where to go.
it came as a massive relief, therefore, when blaine made his way over. victor did not quite smile, but there was, nevertheless, an obvious look of gratitude that shot across his face as the older boy stepped up to greet him. he couldn’t claim to know blaine particularly well, but at the very least, they had met a few times before, which was more than victor could say for the rest of the people here at the camp.
with a bit of a raised eyebrow, he eyed the cup in blaine’s hand. technically, he was under the drinking age in america, but he somehow doubted that this camp had many people in it who would snitch on underage drinking. “ … i’ll have one. if anyone asks, you didn’t know i’m nineteen, and i didn’t know the drinking age. ”
Not thinking anything of it, Blaine gestured for Victor to wait a second and stepped away to pour him a glass from the pitcher of liquor he’d chosen as his favorite among several. God knew he wasn’t going to tell him no for being nineteen? Blaine did his fair share of underage drinking in high school. Heck, even one round of it had him making out with a girl and questioning his sexuality for all of a couple weeks. Oh, memories! None of them were going anywhere and there was zero risk in anyone getting hurt by it. So why not?
Two Solo cups carried back, one in each hand (his tipped off a little as well..you know..to save a trip back) and Blaine stepped up beside Victor and took a set offering one glass over to him. “Hope you like it. There’s a few other ones over there if that’s not your thing. You’re more than welcome to help yourself, too. I don’t think anyone here cares. Who hasn’t already drank by twenty one, really? Probably no one in this bunch. And I doubt anyone’s going to notice anyway.” They were all wrapped up in their own conversations just like the two of them.
Blaine gave the groups a look. His gaze lingered by the fire before his attention turned back to Victor. “I take it you don’t know anyone here? Or was I intruding on some much needed alone time?” He hoped it wasn’t the latter. “I could introduce you to some more people if you want? Or you can deal with my company and I could do it tomorrow?” Getting to know Victor more wouldn’t hurt. He’d seen him here or there and Victor seemed interesting enough to get to know. Where would be another place more fitting than now?
Seeing as how they had to work together? It’d be a lot easier to do that if they weren’t strangers. Cause that would make a couple months pretty awkward, wouldn’t it?
Everyone was overly involved in conversations with each other by the time Blaine separated from the new group of people he was getting to know a little better and went looking for the next campfire to go introduce himself to. That’s when he caught sight of Victor approaching the get together and a pivot on a pair of navy blue boat shoes later? Blaine stepped up beside him with his drink in hand and a bright, welcoming smile. “Hey! I didn’t know you signed up for this. Glad you did though. By the looks of it? We’re going to need all the help we can get.” God, would they.
It was no secret that most of them were a little underprepared for what they discovered when they got here. The pictures they saw didn’t give out enough warning. Even if the budget was huge and that might’ve been a warning? With so many rich alumni backing them, it was easy to undershoot the massiveness of this all.
Blaine wasn’t any different. He signed up with a few hopes and dreams under his sleeves for what might come of this endeavor. The chance to perform at the show being the main draw. But, wow, this was a mess. Letting it get him down like some had? Even letting it show how overwhelmed he might’ve felt for the past couple of days wouldn’t do them any good. It might bring them down even worse to have another person join the ranks of ‘what the hell did we sign up for’. To prevent that cloud from getting darker, Blaine decided it’d be better to shelf his own concerns and focus on the bigger picture. Keeping everyone motivated to get through this, reassured and happy. That way? No towels would be thrown in and they could get this show on the road.
“Want something to drink? I suggest whatever they’re making in this,” he held up his plastic cup and wriggled it back and forth. “I think they’re Manhattans but it’s not the cheap stuff that’s going to give you a headache and make you regret life in the morning.” Tomorrow was their off day before they dug in. Still. He didn’t want to spend it hurting. “You want to give one a go?”
pianokeysandbowties 