Asher scoops him up and kisses his forehead. 

"You look great."

!!!!! 

"And you always look great." 

"So do you. --We'll walk to the party?"

"You're so good. And yeah, good plan." 

Asher makes sure Sasha's arms are securely around his neck and starts to move, vampire-fast. 

It's so good how Asher can just pick him up and carry him places. 

After what can't be very far, it only took a couple of minutes, or maybe it was more time than it felt like, Asher sets him down at the door and Sasha smiles and does his best to look like he isn't nervous at all. 

Asher kisses him. "You look scared."

"I'm not scared, I just — don't want them to think I'm a stupid kid." 

"They're going to think you're great, because you are great. You don't have anything to worry about."

Asher's so good. 

"Thanks," and he's a little less nervous but not all the way there. 

"Hey."

Asher lifts up his chin with one hand and looks into his eyes and says in an odd voice, "Relax. You don't have anything to worry about. You're going to have a great time."

....ah. 

"Yeah," and his voice is dreamy now, "yeah, you're right. Let's go in?" 

"Of course, my love."

Inside it's dark; music is playing, pulse-pounding techno where one song blends easily and indistinguishably into the next. There's a bar near the front. About a quarter of the people are unearthily pretty like Asher; the rest are still mostly very beautiful, as far as he can tell; everyone at the party is a man. Sasha sees three or four couples where someone has their mouth on someone else's neck, one where someone is kneeling and kissing someone else's thigh.

Asher sits down not far from the bar next to two or three unearthily pretty people, pulls Sasha onto his lap, greets the unearthily pretty people. He seems to know all of them.

Sasha smiles at them and cuddles up to Asher and doesn't worry about what he's supposed to say. Why would he be worried? 

Sasha might catch a snippet of someone saying "--your boyfriend's a little out of it--" and then laughter.

Someone brings Sasha a drink; it smells like coconut and pineapple and has a cherry on it.

It smells good, and Asher would keep him safe, and there's nothing to worry about. Sasha drinks it and curls up further in Asher's lap. 

It tastes a little bitter.

Asher kisses him and says, "do you want to dance?"

"I want to try, anyway!" 

Asher's lap is so nice but he lets Asher guide him to the open floor. 

Can you do ballet to techno with a partner who doesn't know how? 

Asher is going to make a good faith effort, anyway. 

And Sasha doesn't know what he's doing but he does his best to follow — it feels so good, to follow where Asher leads — 

Asher brings him close and says, "see anybody you like?"

"Everyone's so pretty — the one with the long blue hair and the sparkly eyeliner?" 

He laughs. "I have pretty friends. But you're the prettiest."

"You do have pretty friends." 

Asher looks into his eyes and says, "You're so turned on. Kiss as many people as you think are hot. You want to feel them inside you. You want to feel their mouths on you."