location: somewhere in the main hall

so, long story short, eli was freaking out. he didn't even know the guy who bought him, except for a few times he's seen him around the campus. nothing was okay to be honest. his face was pale and the tremble of his hands gave off enough about his shaky state. standing on the edge of main hall, he was scanning the crowd for any sign of his buyer. maybe he won't show up and eli will be left in the group of those losers no one bought – not that he'd care the least bit. if levi would get the auction, he'd be nervous, yes, but also beyond happy. if anyone he actually knew would bid on him and win, well, he'd be great. awesome. relaxed at least.

it must've been good five minutes of standing there, doing absolutely nothing besides worrying how the night will turn out, when he finally caught sight of his buyer – or he hoped it was. okay, no, scratch that, he hoped it wasn't him, that he took off, broke the rules, escaped, whatever. sadly, when he drew nearer, eli saw clearly it was really him. "um, hi?" he uttered quietly, not sure if he can even hear him, but not sure if he wants him to hear either.

His bet won and Jean was on his way to meet that Eli kid he was stuck with for the rest of the night. For a second he felt weird that he spent the money on a guy, but thinking about it better, he realized that he was in need of male friends. Eli was a male and possibly they could get something out of this. Of course he also gave money for charity so everyone won. Hopefully. Jean searched around the hall while he was paying his price in search for Nola. He wanted to say hello to her before she meets her date and he does the same with his. After he found her and chat with her for a while he was on his was to look for his man-date for tonight. It sounded so silly.

“Hello,” he said in response and smiled towards a guy near him. Politely he offered his hand for a shake: “Jean, you buyer.” It was for best to make fun out of it. And he was just in the right mood for it. A dude buying a dude can only be funny. Why not use that? He made few steps with a guy next to him towards a bar. “Sorry for being late, but I had to stop and say hello to my girlfriend.” Probably it wasn`t the best start that he let him waiting, not for a seconds it was about few minutes. “Drinks?” he offered when they reached a bar and looked at him waiting for his response.

he accepted the hand and shook it tentatively, not really sure about anything at that moment. "i'm eli," he added, though jean, as he was called apparently, probably knew that. he had to go pay for him, right? okay, whatever. it was pointless to overthink every little detail about the guy or the night they had to endure together. "no, it's okay. i haven't waited long, really." maybe he could ask about the girlfriend. or would it be rude? but people usually liked talking about their significant others. and eli was a guy, so he couldn't mistake it for flirting, right? it wasn't like his sexuality was written all over his forehead. "who is your girlfriend, if you don't mind me asking?" he asked quietly, hands still tucked in his pockets to cover up the shaking. maybe that was a good start and he could just listen to him go on and on about her. it wouldn't exactly be the first time, and he really didn't mind. he was a good listener. "um, i..." drinks, of course. he was torn between refusing the offer because he wasn't fond of alcohol and accepting it for the sake of their night together. it wouldn't hurt to be a bit braver, at least jean wouldn't die of boredom. "yeah, okay. i can go with a beer."

Jean smiled when the guy introduced himself, since he already knew something about him. He was listening to his presentation and luckily he had a good memory. But instead of saying how he knows that, Jean just smiled and took his hand back from the shake. “Okay, great. I was really trying to meet you as fast as I can,” he added once again in apologetic tone of his voice. “Nola Blackwell. Do you remember the girl that also raised a table for you? She is the one,” he responded not really sure if Eli knew about who he is talking about or not, but that wasn`t even important. “I decided to oppose her for a tease and ended up winning.” There was no jealousy behind the story about his contradiction to his girlfriend. He just enjoyed sitting at a table away from her, while looking at her and raising the price she yelled out.

Bartender finally came to them and after Eli accepted his drink invitation he made an order: “Two beers, please.” Guy next to him nodded and disappeared soon after it. “Brave move, though, man. To go up and stand in front of people deciding rather they should buy you or not,” he told him with his one thumb up. Jean didn`t had a problem talking to a whole room of people, but it felt a little bit odd just to stand there and do nothing.

wow, okay, he really did fuck up. they fucking described him, back on the stage, of course jean knew his name and everything. he wanted to bang his head on the wall a few times, but since he couldn't exactly do that in a place so crowded, he just imagined it very vividly. it only stopped him when he heard the name of jean's girlfriend. "nola? yeah, i know her. i mean, fleetingly. we've talked a few times." the last few words dissolved into mumbling. it didn't sound really flattering that his buyer only raised his table to mock his girlfriend, but now they were stuck together for a night, so he should really stop being such self-pity. maybe they'll have fun. maybe, if he'll drink a beer or two he'll actually be able to hold a semi-normal conversation.

eli frowned at the mention of his bravery. maybe it was at the beginning when he signed up, but from then on it was purely the pressure; he'd embarrass himself more by not getting on the stage than by standing there, even if nobody would buy him. or at least he told himself so. "um, yeah, anything for charity, i guess," he replied with a poorly faked relaxed voice, because the last thing he wanted to do was explain how dumb he felt all the time. luckily the bartender came back with their beers and he took his immediately, dragging a long sip.