She ducked down a little. “Can we go somewhere a little less out in the open?”

This made him glance towards the din of the party. "Ooh, you wanna get a roooom?" He made himself laugh. "We can go into my room, down that way," he gestured.

“That would be good,” she agreed, relieved and wholly unaware of the connotations. “Thank you.”

Things were deceptively quiet while they wandered down the hall, up until they neared his room. That was when the path grew a little more crowded. Rhea had been absorbed in the task of coming up with some sort of explanation for her sudden appearance when a woman shrieked at the sight of Leriph and came staggering over, her eyes as glazed as his. “Leriph!” she crooned, falling into his arms. “You didn’t call me!”

"Woah, hey," he greeted in surprise as the newcomer nearly sent him toppling. Waiting for a spark of recognition in his brain that never came, he defaulted to his practiced, go-to line. "I wanted to but I lost your number, babe, I swear."

“Oh my godddd, you’re such a scatterbrain,” she laughed and swatted his shoulder. Rhea quietly inched away and hoped that she wouldn’t be noticed. “I’m so mad,” the girl preened, “Let’s go somewhere quiet and maybe you can convince me to give it to you again.”

He held her by the arms, peeling her off of him carefully. "Lissssten," he slurred congenially. "I gotta do something first but I'll find you later."

“What do you have to do,” she asked, giggling and draping herself over him, her lips dancing against the rim of his ear, arms laced around his neck. “That’s more important than me? Come on, Leriph. It can be a quickie, that’s hot.”

Leriph's eyes, however, danced around the hallway behind her in search of Rhea, who had slipped his side. "Later, Melanie, okay?" He pushed her off once more.

“That’s not my name,” she whined.

Rhea had found herself cornered by some lout while Leriph was off, gallivanting with some woman. She had known that she couldn’t count on him, but that didn’t stop disappointment from turning her mood sour.
“Looks like Leriph’s taking Bren tonight,” the man slurred, leaning close enough to Rhea that she could almost taste the alcohol on his breath. He had her pinned, elbow above her head and the other arm pressed against the wall near her waist. “But I can make you happy, baby.”
Rhea was tired. Sore from the fight back in Altair, scraped up and bruised, the small amount of dignity she had left curling into a ball and dying beneath the leer of this stranger whose hands were crawling too close. “Please just,” she began, turning her face away. She didn’t want to turn this into a scene. “Please leave me alone.”
“Aw, come on. Loosen up a little, can I get you a drink?”

"Hey," Leriph appeared at their side, grabbing the guy by his shoulder. "Back off, asshole."