The first party

Rather than going all tactical And asking myself what I want fr this scene (which was my first instinct) I'm just going to add elements and see if they add anything.

So Mark is:
Keen to converse (has some pre-prepared conversations, many of which are a little heavy for strangers. He feels like he's been shown how to do it when Seb shows up and produces a Jack story)
He's very deliberately not getting too drunk- three drinks all night and he insulated himself well before he came out.
He's spent a lot of time worrying about how he looks and so is constantly checking even though with Lois's steer he's wearing the most simple styles.
He's determined to strike out on his own, in a way few people are when they go to a party they don't know anyone at.

And how about Toby? He's aware of his responsibilities to take care of Mark and will naturally do it in his low key way. He's told Seb to come along as he knows he will make it more fun. He's confused and a little offended when Mark doesn't seem to want to hang with him. He gets quite drunk. And when he's drunk he gets quite merry and quite loving but a little boring.

Lois: the key thing about Lois is that she can switch it on. She goes to a party and she's all high fives and flirting. It's nit false. As mentioned previously she is a genuinely warm person. But it is a little bit of an effort, a projection. It is in some ways not that 'fun'. It's her friend's party but she doesn't know that many people there. And quite a lot in a 'oh yeah we met at the last one type way'. So she works it and wants to take Mark with her but he wants to do his own thing. And because she is always watching out for him she's slightly put off her stride.

Seb is brought in because the party might be boring. He's already drunk and he's brought plenty of booze. He tells a story about his mate Jack which Mark is in awe of. It highlights the fact that Mark has no anecdotes. He asks if it would be weird if he started telling it. You wouldn't be the first.

And the others: i think it should definitely be a girls party- lots of crudités, candles everywhere, petals in the bath. And there should be a lot of girls there. So that they are quite pleased to have Mark come up to
Them. They find him a little boring but quite sweet.

He takes that. "My chief aim was for them not to think of me as weird. I succeeded, baby steps."