Reed smirked at Venn as the round moved to him. They had already gone around several dozen times, and each of them had something stupid on or near them. Zip had an ink mustache and his curly hair was full of syrup, making it stick up in all directions. Shale had managed to escape the worst of the dares, coming through with only a splash of white paint on the front of his silver jacket. Venn had a rubber duck between his teeth, which he was currently trying to pull out with results that were close to success, but still left some yellow rubber around the sharp ends. Reed himself had nothing physical, but he was surrounded by sheets of paper and a discarded book without it's pages.

Venn eyed Reed suspiciously, spitting out flakes of yellow rubber into his hand. He flicked them lazily at Zip, who glared and swatted them away.

Reed leaned back between Zip and Shale. "So Venn... truth or dare?" he sang.

Venn locked eyes with Reed, his dark eyes intense and searching. "....Daaaare..." he said slowly, knowing he would probably instantly regret the choice.

Reed's smirk grew, if that was possible and Venn's unease spiked. "I dare you to... wear a dress Zip and I pick out for you."

Zip and Shale instantly started laughing. Venn's mouth dropped open. He looked mildly offended and amused, but also irritated and surprised. "A dress?"

Reed leaned forward, raising one eyebrow at Venn. "Yes. I believe that's what I said. Perhaps you need to clean out your ears?"

Venn made a face and pulled another small chunk of rubber duck from his mouth. "Well you know I can't say no."

Reed grinned and bounced to his feet like a child on Christmas who had been given permission to go shake his presents. "Excellent! Come on, Zip, we have shopping to do!"

After being gone for an hour and a half, Reed and Zip returned. Both were laughing quietly, Reed carried a bag that presumably held Venn's dress. Venn was crouching on the armrest of the couch. Shale was likely downstairs preparing their equipment for the following night.

From his perch, Venn gave Reed a flat look as he approached. "Venn isn't home today. Please try again later."

Reed jabbed Venn in the side with a small smirk, making Venn fall onto the couch. He dropped the bag on Venn's head. "There you go, Venny."

Venn removed the bag from his head and glared at Reed. He held the glare for a moment, but when Reed just looked back with an expectantly amused expression, he sighed loudly and got up. "I'll be back in a minute..." he growled.

Reed watched Venn stalk away, still looking very amused. Zip chuckled quietly and shook his head. "I honestly did not expect him to agree to this."

Reed turned, raising one eyebrow. "Zip, this is truth or dare. Have you ever known Venn to turn down any dare?"

Zip thought for a moment, then held up a finger. "Well, there was one time when Ardal dared Venn to eat several somethings from a garbage can. None of us knew what they were. As a forfeit, Raylan tied Venn in the basement for an hour."

Reed grimaced. "What an idiot... SHALE COME HERE!"

Shale emerged from the stairway and joined Reed and Zip in the living room. He didn't need to ask why Reed had called him up.

Venn slid into the room with shocking grace. The dress reached down to the floor and fit him shockingly well. The bright red fabric shimmered and the silver swirls on the chest and waist were reflective. He looked very annoyed, but otherwise looked quite good in a dress.

Reed was the first one to start laughing. His laugh soon spread to Zip and Shale. Even Venn cracked a small smile. He reached up and pulled a bit of yellow rubber from his mouth with a curse.

"So, Lady Drake," Shale said, smirking with a slightly cold expression. "Who next?"

Venn looked at Reed with a broad smirk. "Reed, truth or dare?"

Reed wanted to say truth, he really did. He knew exactly what Venn was thinking and he wanted no part in it. His brain had other ideas. At the same moment he started to respond he thought about saying dare so the word that left his mouth was, "Dare." Followed by a curse.

Venn's eyes glinted with malicious glee. His purely happy expression, no matter how sinister, made what Reed knew was coming less intense. That didn't stop Reed from sighing and running a distressed hand through his hair. "Please, no..." he groaned.

Venn smirked. "Please, yes. I dare YOU to wear a dress that Shale and I pick out for you."