*　𝑠𝑎𝑦　𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑠𝑒　.ᐟ

cecelia  lets  out  a  soft,  breathy  laugh  that  sounds  amused  more  than  anything  else,  even  if  the  way  her  fingers  tighten  briefly  around  the  ring  on  her  hand  suggests  she’s  grounding  herself;  her  gaze  drifts  past  xavier  for  half  a  second  before  returning  to  him  with  deliberate  calm  as  she  smooths  the  front  of  her  skirt  and  lifts  her  chin,  composure  settling  back  into  place.   “  wouldn't  you  like  to  know?  ”   she  retorts  lightly,  tone  subtly  flirty,  as  one  manicured  hand  lifts  in  a  small,  dismissive  flick  between  them,  practiced  enough  to  look  effortless.   cecelia  turns  slightly  toward  the  zbz  table,  but  doesn't  fully  step  away,  keeping  her  shoulder  still  angled  toward  xavier.   she  reaches  for  a  flyer  and  aligns  it  with  unnecessary  care,  fingertips  brushing  the  edge  of  the  table  before  pulling  back  as  if  catching  herself.   “  you  might  want  to  worry  about  your  own  mess  first,  ”   the  zeta  adds  pleasantly,  eyes  flicking  toward  the  chaos  of  the  gamma  table  before  returning  to  him,  her  smile  soft  and  composed,  the  kind  that  never  quite  reveals  its  intent.     “  i  don't  see  how  you'll  attract  any  pledges  if  they  can't  even  see  anything.   ”    

everything  about  the  two  feels  like  a  direct  contrast,  right  down  to  the  poised  posture  and  intentional  gestures  of  cecilia  and  the  brazen  impulsivity  and  less  than  proper  stature  of  xavier.  it's  funny—  especially  after  seeing  the  other  side  of  the  coin.  there  isn't  an  ounce  of  him  that's  surprised,  yet  it  doesn't  stop  him  from  pushing  anyway.  “mhm,  isn't  that  why  i  asked?”  he  composes  himself,  if  only  to  not  laugh  at  her  act,  choosing  rather  to  scoff  at  the  adjustment  as  he's  met  with  her  shoulder  like  any  other  gamma.  in  front  of  him  is  only  the  cecelia  everyone  knew,  the  one  who'd  turn  heads  if  people  saw  fraternizing  with  the  antithesis  of  herself  too  closely.  he  smirks  at  the  deflection,  chaos  ensuing  as  usual  with  more  flyers  shredded  and  stomped  into  the  concrete  floor  than  on  the  table.  he  only  gives  them  a  brief  look,  turning  his  head  back  to  the  blonde.  “i  don't  need  to  attract  anyone,  they  all  come  on  their  own  anyway.”  voice  brims  with  ego—  except  xavier  knows  he  isn't  wrong,  on  multiple  fronts.  and  even  when  his  hands  are  (  mostly  )  to  himself,  his  mouth  is  still  shameless  as  ever.  “i'm  sure  you  would  know  something  about  that.”

she couldn't help but tease him a little, she enjoyed their banter and wanted to make the most it whenever she had the chance to speak to him.

it's  not  hard  to  grin  a  little  more  when  he's  around  luciana,  and  it  isn't  just  because  she's  a  pretty  girl.  she's  sweet,  with  him  at  the  very  least.  and  xavier  isn't  exactly  blind  to  it—  if  anything,  it's  encouraging.  and contrary to popular opinion, he also happens to think he's a delight to be around anyway. “you're  too  cute  for  anyone  to  mess  with  you.  but  if  the  competition  is  who  gets  pied  the  most,  you  might  get  beat  out.  it's  more  fun  doing  it  to  someone  you  don't  like,”  he  shrugs,  giving  a  passing  thought  with  a  few  names  crossing  over  his  mind.  a  brow  raises  at  her  idea,  chuckling  before  leaning  in  a  little.  “special  treatment,  huh?  how  special?”  he  asks,  curiosity  sufficiently  piqued.  it'd  certainly  be  a  good  way  to  bring  in  money—  even  if  he  had  a  feeling  she  didn't  see  it  that  way.  “maybe.  only  if  you  help  clean  me  up  after.”

contrary  to  popular  belief,  xavier  is  a  big  fan  of  orientation  week.  it's  when  he'll  get  his  first  pickings  at  who  will  be  doing  his  laundry  for  the  semester,  potential  bids  ready  to  be  mentored  by  someone  who  had  no  business  doing  it.  their  table  is  a  mess,  especially  in  comparison  to  the  zetas,  flyers  thrown  everything,  solo  cup  that  was  half  -  alcohol,  half  -  dirt,  and  an  absence  of  anyone  taking  any  bit  of  it  seriously.  he  uses  that  tenured  vice  president  sense  of  his  to  see  things  were  as  normal  as  they  were  going  to  be,  leaving  things  to  be  attended  to  by  the  members.  of  course,  who  is  without  giving  a  little  friendly  stop  to  the  other  houses?  he  chuckles  —  no,  almost  laughs,  abruptly  brushed  off  by  the  queen  of  prim  and  proper.  at  least,  to  everyone  else.  “aren't  you  just  so  kind,”  he  drawls  out,  mocking  and  baiting  the  reaction.  she'd  basically  given  him  an  opening  anyway,  he  couldn't  be  blamed  for  anything  he  said.  “what  about  the  window  in  your  room,  is  that  one  open?”

luciana glances up at the person and doesn't hesitate to smile, ❝ oh hi! random but-- ❞ she quickly stands up and pulls out a paper from her purse, extending her hand out to the person so that they can take the paper, ❝ cypress events is stacked for fall, i'm currently in the works of approving a pie-a-president type of competition for the campus-- with money donations heavily involved of course, so that it's used for the greater good, because why not? what are your thoughts on how this flyer looks and do you think this competition could be problematic for sigma and the campus overall-- because what if the pie throwing gets aggressive and then hands are thrown and then-- just an overall mess that i can't represent-- that i won't. that sigma won't. you know? ❞

if there were deadlines or plans xavier was meant to be preparing for the upcoming fall semester, he was none the wiser to it. and why would he be? the fun of being a gamma was doing whatever they wanted, and leaving the occasional party planning to the people that actually wanted to do it. he'll thank their social chair with a drink one of these days. for now he's off to get one of his own—nonalcoholic, anyway. some overpriced latte he'd gotten free after claiming he 'forgot his wallet' to the barista with a charming smile. it's long after, maybe on his way almost put that he sees luciana, who's actually taken to doing work in a cafe. his interest is peaked, flyer thrust forth into his hands and a slurry of words follows that leaves him letting out a chuckle. “are you volunteering your own face to get pied?” he asked, amused even as his eyes scan over the sheet of paper. she's thinking about it way too much. “nah, it sounds fun. feel like you'd have to be a loser to start a fight at something for charity anyway.” if this really did happen, xavier would count his blessings he never cared for the coveted throne of gamma. “it's a pie, ana. can't hurt that bad, even if the zetas and omegas are a bunch of babies.” he doesn't mention that some of the rowdy are from his own fraternity, though he imagines they'd get a kick out of throwing pies at lucas more than starting shit.

confused kitty JAEHYUN @ 'Walk' movement