the middle

“oh man,” the way his brow furrows almost indicates some concern, but levi drops the act about as quickly as he’d put it on when he feels a shoe knock against his shin. “sucks to suck, huh?” it’s all a bit of fun banter, he already knows his friend’s not as broke as he appears to be. but at least beck has a plan for his hard-earned cash; levi’s without a job and simply living off of his late mother’s inheritance, no obvious goal in the future to make a living. my, she must be so incredibly proud of him. great, now he’s occupied thinking about how his poor choices in life has led him to absolutely nothing. even more reason for him to get shit-faced drunk. “buy me a beer. actually, make that five.”

he mimics the vague hand movements beck makes with a laugh, ending with a middle finger. “you got me there.” he could simply teleport back to his bed, but he doesn’t. the night’s too young. besides, it’d be impossible for him to fall asleep now.

the look he gives beck is clear: ‘sensible? you?’ because he knows better. sure, levi might be one of the reasons why beck’s gotten into trouble more times than he could count on his fingers, but…. nope, that’s it. there’s no but. “i had to stand guard with some other RA’s.” the look on his face says it all: it’d been boring. “how’d you think it got here in the first place?” none of the teachers had explained any of it.

leaning in, he lowers his voice to an inconspicuous whisper. “i’ve got a theory: the gods are threatened and they’re trying to take us out before the inevitable uprising.” despite the faux seriousness in his voice, there’s a grin threatening to break through. “too many kids with daddy and mommy issues around here.”

beck calls over a waiter and orders the requested beers – he sticks to just two, for now. after the man leaves, he throws levi a judgemental look. “i’m getting you one beer. i’m not watching you drink that shit all night, that’s way too “old alcoholic who tells boring stories about his youth in dodgy bars”. you know there’s more efficient ways to get drunk, right?” more importantly, he’s silently hoping those options are still on the table tonight, despite levi’s strange initial mood.

a smirk forms on beck’s face at the obscene gesture, and it only widens at the incredulous look levi gives him. if he’s not sensible, levi is infinitely worse. “still don't know who thought it was a good idea to give you any kind of responsibility. i mean, what did you even say to the kids that refused to stay put?” he leans back and throws an arm over the booth’s headrest, mimicking and exaggerating levi's signature drawl. “you want to fight this drakon armed with nothing but your ability to sense auras? rad, sounds like a plan. go get ‘em, champ.” the performance isn’t a particularly accurate imitation, but that doesn’t stop him from looking entirely too pleased with himself.

     jonas was slightly surprised when he turned the doorway and found his own roommate, beck. the situation itself felt funny; beck approaching, clearly wanting something instead of the other way around. it might be a first. then, the other demigod calls himself jonas’ brother and… yeah, it’s definitely a first. “who said you’re my favorite brother? apollo has…” he trailed, gaze wandering in the distance with his brain to come up with some obscure number, all while his fingers plucked softly at the guitar strings. “i don’t know. too many kids. so what makes you my favorite? yifan could be my favorite.”

     though he spent all this time joking — he’d be lying if it hadn’t felt nice to be verbally claimed by the half-brother he spent most of his time annoying for the fraction of acknowledgement. it was certainly more than their father had ever done — even if beck was faking it. “anyway, i thought you were more of a bass kind of dude. wouldn’t guitar just be… i dunno… less fun?”

     beck moved to sit down next to jonas, quietly pleased that it had been him in the music room. this might actually work. however, he couldn’t help the scowl that formed on his face at the mention of their half-brother. the fact that he was even vaguely related to yifan was enough to make his blood boil. “if yifan's your favorite the category doesn't mean anything, because you clearly have a complete lack of standards. unless you have a soft spot for self-involved assholes, i guess.” 

under beck’s watchful gaze, junseo fumbles for an adequate explanation, and a brief, awkward silence blooms between them as his brain produces frenzied static instead of words. the truth behind his foray into apollo housing isn’t exactly going to place him in beck’s good graces — it’ll likely just make beck detest him more — and junseo realizes that pepperoni burglary in another residence hall probably is illegal, and he just exposed his guilt. shit.

abruptly, he stands up, casting a look around the immediate vicinity only to realize beck has him cornered. “ i do, ” he finally says, a deliberate stall as his hand reaches to nervously grip the top of the couch. jonas is noticeably in class, which throws a wrench in junseo’s usual escape method. his current options are to tell the truth about his thievery or start a small fire, and junseo’s anxiety is telling him that the latter is a brilliant distraction, and possibly still gives him an avenue to steal jonas’ deli meats from the fridge. 

“ i have a great, totally not illegal reason, ” he continues unconvincingly, glancing behind beck to focus on the pair of golden curtains across the room. his powers aren’t an exact science, but causing minor fires with his mind is one of junseo’s rare and select talents he can ( mostly ) control. within seconds, orange flames begin licking up the bottom of the curtains, and junseo faces beck again with his best attempt to appear indifferent and definitely not guilty of arson. “ um, i think a curtain is on fire… did someone leave a candle out or something? ”

beck should’ve known better than to corner junseo, and really — he did. what was the alternative, though? let him stroll through their dorm like he belongs there? just because jonas doesn’t seem to grasp the meaning of concepts such as personal space and boundaries, doesn’t mean beck doesn’t appreciate his dorm being somewhat of a retreat from the hectic nature of the rest of the school. and creating that retreat started with producing a junseo-free zone. if that means war, so be it.

          for someone who maggie was actively avoiding, it almost felt as if beck seeked her out. she dolled herself up that morning, as a hello to the new season, but she wished she hadn’t as soon as she noticed the familiar figure entering the club room. her strawberry blonde hair, her prim and proper way of dressing, her thin figure; they were all instantly recognizable, even in crowds. despite her awareness, and the empty room, she hoped with her back turned, it’d be enough to evade a conversation.

          nope.

          her first thought was: right in front of my book club? but her lips remained sealed while her ex spoke, only with the hopes the moment would freaking end. that he would leave. that she wouldn’t have to engage him further. obviously, this wasn’t how the fates had planned it, or whatever. she held the tattered and frayed book between manicured fingers. matilda. she wondered if he even opened the book the time she lended it to him, if he’d be able to pick up on the parallels between maggie and a little magical girl in a hateful home, or if it’d been sat idle in his room all this time. for such a paramount novel to collect dust, it made maggie’s stomach shrink into a knot. or maybe it was the man in front of her now.

         she couldn’t describe to you how she turned towards beck or how the book found itself with her messy pile, but both things materialized somehow. “it’s fine,” she sighed with a shake of her head. “everything you said—fine.” a tight-lipped smile squished itself into her cheeks, a forced expression of sorts. as her eyes faced out towards the room, she noticed maria, the nosiest member of the book club, watching the pair. maggie raised her eyebrows and tilted her head in the girl’s direction, which caused maria to look away immediately. yeah, she’s still got it.

          “you actually read the first chunk of the handmaid’s tale? actively participating?” a piece of her didn’t believe him, but she fained amazement anyway. deciding to at least appear busy, she neatened up her pile on the table, tucking a few books and notebooks into her messenger bag. “you know,” she began with an exhale of air almost resembling a laugh. “you ditched me. which made me feel like i fucked up, even though i literally don’t know what i ever did to you. and then as soon as the semester starts, and i’m trying to just have a good year, you’re approaching me first, beginning the conversations, being kind to me. you’re confusing me. and i don’t know what to feel about any of it.” her voice was somehow still calm, still gentle, but there was an aggravation under the surface that she refused to let loose.

           ouch, okay. one of the perks of being the debate club’s president was that beck had gotten plenty of practice at maintaining a poker face, which came in handy now — as maggie’s response had been cooler than he’d anticipated. maybe he’d been a bit too optimistic about her feelings for him after their last interaction. he was also glad for his ability to remain stoic for an entirely different reason when she shot their fellow club member down. fuck, that was kinda hot. but, fuck — he probably shouldn’t be thinking about her like that.

           he nodded at her question, trying not to look offended at the doubt that it contained. “yes. of course.” there wasn't a trace of insincerity in his tone, as he met her gaze head-on. it was true that he had bullshitted his way through a few discussions when he'd been particularly busy, but he knew her well enough to know she saw straight through his pseudo-intellectual spiels. it had been kind of funny at the time, too — how she scolded him afterwards, all pouty and disappointed, and how he’d pepper her face with kisses until she forgave him… anyway. there was no point in trying to get away with his past behavior now, not when he was already on thin ice. besides, the fact that he actually liked to hear and engage with her thoughts was a nice bonus.

ft. @eubeck​

you know those moments in life when you’re in complete disbelief at just how unlucky you are? well, that’s exactly how yifan feels as he finds himself seated across the one person he absolutely cannot stand, having to tutor him the one subject he is still struggling with himself. as if it isn’t already bad enough having to see him around the apollo house, now he still has to see him on a weekly basis and in a situation neither of them can avoid? is mercury in retrograde or something?

he sighs, flipping open the vitakinesis textbook on the table, flipping to the first chapter, since he figures starting from the beginning would be best for both of them — one, because beck was apparently failing the class and two, because yifan is the most confident in the early chapters, aka the basics. he’ll worry about everything else later, if beck doesn’t request for another tutor first and quite honestly, yifan hopes he does. it saves them both from having to deal with each other and he doesn’t have to worry about beck catching on to him not being isn’t the best at controlling his vitakinesis abilities — he couldn’t risk exposing even an iota of weakness and imperfection, especially around his half-brother. 

“look,” yifans begins, trying, though not hard enough, to hide the scowl on his face, “I know neither of us want to be here but we clearly do not have a choice so let’s just get down to it already and hopefully finish the class earlier so we can go on with our lives. agree?”

despite what a person might assume from his grade list and demeanor in class, beck holds no real contempt for eonia or its teaching staff. until recently, that is. until his asshole of a vitakinesis professor decided to assign him the worst possible person to tutor him, lecturing him about this being “his final chance to get his grade up”. if he was in the right sort of mindset, he might have recognized the act for the kindness it is. any other teacher would have failed him a long time ago for the shit he’s pulled in that class — his consistent tardiness, his general lack of effort, his apparent contempt for the subject. right now, he isn’t in the right sort of mindset. right now, he’s in a pissed off sort of mindset.

but what’s a guy to do but make the best out of a bad situation? beck likes to think he’s an optimist at heart. (he’s not.) torturing yifan is one of the great pleasures of life — far above skipping class and just a hair below disappointing apollo himself. being forced to spend more time with him will simply give beck more opportunities to do just that. 

he hasn’t looked directly at yifan since they both arrived in the empty classroom, electing to have his hands and eyes glued to his phone instead. it’s something that drives him crazy when other people do it — he can only hope yifan feels the same. he makes a noncommittal sound at yifan's proposition, not bothering to look up from his phone screen. finally, after a moment of silence that he deems just long enough to be uncomfortable, he speaks. “you even know what you're doing? i know the faculty loves to kiss your ass, but i don't think i've ever even seen you use your powers.”

         this had been a bad idea. the book club consisted of a bunch of overeager nerds, why he had forgotten this fact was beyond him. ( except for the fact that his brain always seemed to work at half-speed whenever it had to deal with anything relating to his ex-girlfriend. ) so naturally, when he arrived early in the hopes of talking to maggie before everyone else showed up, she wasn’t the only one there – two other people were already in the room.

        a girl whose name he’d consistently forgotten since he’d joined ( something with an ‘m’ - melissa? marissa? ) was chatting with an unfamiliar face, possibly a new member. melissa-marissa briefly greeted him when he entered the room, before going back to her conversation. he had a hard time gauging whether her response to him was cooler than usual. as he’d been fond of derailing the club’s conversation in order to flirt with their president, most of the members had never really been too fond of him in the first place.

        with only the slightest bit of reluctance, beck finally faced the third person in the room. she stood with her back to him, seemingly preparing for the meeting to come. “hey, mags,” he started, trying to discourage eavesdropping by speaking in a softer tone. “found this under my bed, figured you’d want it back.” the book he was holding was battered, the cover so faded that the title was impossible to make out. he hadn’t remembered borrowing it from her, but he’d recognized the notes in the margins, written in her unmistakable handwriting. he held it out to her.

                                        ⟨ creatures of habit ⟩

♡ : 「 @eubeck​​​ 」 |  it is entirely possible to make bad decisions even when not under the influence of alcohol and other substances. proof of this can be found in what sooah is about to do. she finds it ironic; how adamant she was that their previous relationship was to remain strictly physical, but now she finds herself seeking him out now that she’s nursing a broken heart and wounded pride. 

     she hates that it’s come to this, that she somehow fell victim of that god(s) awful phenomenon known as love and how after one bad experience she’s exhibiting the same behavior of those scorned by love who made her wary of love in the first place. she should be doing something productive with her life; instead, she finds herself falling back into old habits (and old people) that she had originally thought she had given up. truly, she’s proving herself to be a creature of habit.

      having plucked up her courage from the deepest pits of her soul and throwing her shame out of the window, she called beck asking if he wanted to come over to her room (perks of being a ra is having a room to herself). there were doubts if he’d even accept, considering she had heard that he had recently gotten out of his relationship as well, but he was here in front of her. so perhaps she could take that as a sign that he was indeed willing to resume their prior agreement-situation-relationship. whatever you wanted to call it. 

“i feel like it’s redundant if i say this, but since it has been a while, i think it’s important to remind ourselves that this is strictly physical. so again, no feelings allowed. sounds good?” her face is blank, giving off the appearance that she’s completely at ease, but her rapidly beating heart is a constant reminder that she’s apprehensive over the situation; fearful that she would be rejected right then and there. 

as beck ends his call with sooah, he’s unsure what to feel. he isn’t sorry she called, not at all. the way she carries herself – confident of what she wants and how to get it – has always attracted him to her. however (and perhaps more importantly), she’s also simply fun to talk to. their arrangement was an added perk, but not something he considered integral to their friendship. even when they broke it off, they remained on good terms.

      he doesn't know whether there's a particular motive for her wanting to continue the physical part of their relationship now, but with her past relationship with levi, the dynamics are suddenly a lot more complicated. still, he agrees to meet up. is saying no ever an option, where sooah is concerned? she's magnetic, and he can’t say he hasn’t thought about her since summer.

      soon after he’s walked into her room, he’s sprawled out on her bed, propped up on one elbow so he can look at her while they talk. it’s clear he’s completely relaxed – heaven knows he’s intimately familiar with every corner of this room. “hi to you too, sweetheart. had a good summer?” his tone is innocent enough, but the look he gives her is a meaningful one. while the allusion is a bit mean-spirited, his intention isn’t to be cruel – instead, he only wants to put his cards on the table.

      he doesn’t know whether sooah was actually emotionally invested in her relationship with levi (and he suspects she wouldn't tell him if she was), but at least she’ll know he’s aware of their break-up. she also knows about his friendship with levi. it’s a recipe for disaster, really. better to be honest about that now than to be caught by surprise if it blows up in their faces. “if it sounds good to you, it sounds good to me.”

there’s a twinge of relief when beck comes into his view. good—means levi doesn’t have to pretend to be anything other than miserable. “hell no it wasn’t, you cheapskate.” he scoffs good-humoredly, trying to reach under the table to kick beck. “i bought you that god awful cocktail, with the frilly umbrella.” he doesn’t remember when or why, but he remembers it was pink and horribly sweet. ah—hadn’t it been another one of their competitions to see who could hold their liquor better? they’d ordered the worst drinks for each other, like the real adults they are. huh— who even won that?

tired. levi knows that’s not what beck wanted to say, but it kind of fits. besides, he appreciates the fact his friend doesn’t push, even when he knows better. “this drakon fucked up my schedule, man.” that part is true, at the very least. “you know how i get when i don’t get my nap.” cranky, like a toddler. bit of a handful, too. it’s a good thing beck’s here for when levi inevitably runs out of steam and starts throwing a tantrum. it’s how they’ve been tossed out of other bars before.

“are you good?” he does a glance over, making sure every part of beck is still there. seems like it. “drakon didn’t take a nip out of you?”

damn, levi’s right. beck barely remembers the night. who knew sugary cocktails could fuck you up that quickly? he glares at levi for the attack, absent-mindedly rubbing his now bruised knee. “the menu was right. it did taste like pink,” beck nods morosely, before aiming a revenge kick at levi’s shins. “fine, asshole. but i’m not getting you anything top shelf, i’m broke. had to cancel half of my shifts this month because of the drakon shitshow.” it isn’t entirely true – beck has enough cash stashed away for a rainy day, but he’s also become used to living below his means, hoarding money like it might start disappearing at any second. medical school isn’t going to pay for itself, after all.

“at least you can zap yourself to bed at any time,” beck supplies helpfully, making vague hand gestures that apparently represent levi’s power of teleportation. selfishly, he’s glad levi doesn’t seem to be interested in a therapy session. the last thing he wants to discuss on his free night is some demigod who died tragically young, a fate that is not unlikely to befall them, too.

status: open location: a bar in eonia village

the first — and only — thing levi could think of once the eonia administration informed them that the threat was over was: i need a drink. of course he’s not alone in this, as the place he’d ventured into for the night filled up with every passing minute. the bargoers crowd around each other, music impossibly loud. levi had claimed of one of the booths in the back for himself, ignoring the irritated glances of the people around him without a seat. should’ve gotten there sooner, suckers.

but none of it is enough to drown out the devil on his shoulder, cackling into his ear: you could’ve saved her.

he hadn’t known her, not really — the victim of the attack. paige speros. but when he’d looked her up on social media after the announcement, he’d come to the startling realization that he’d seen her earlier that day. he’d run into her hard enough to knock her off her feet, yet she’d been the one to apologize. pretty smile, he’d remembered thinking. cold hands— too cold for anyone living. he’d been about to ask her about it, too, before he’d seen the professor whose class he’d skipped two hours earlier.

and he’d forgotten about it.

he could’ve warned her. hell, maybe he could’ve — no. levi’s not about to go down that road, he’d need another drink or five before he’d allow himself to wallow. besides, what could he have done? death has its way. that’s why there’s five final destination movies.

fucking drakons.

levi hears rather than sees someone sitting down opposite him, most likely because there’s nowhere else to sit. levi’s a fair guy — mostly. “unless you’re here to buy me a drink,” he thumbs at the rim of the bottle he’s almost done with, not even bothering to look up from his phone. “the seat’s taken.”

          a soft rumble of clouds follows beck as he trudges through the village, head bowed in anticipation of the rain that is sure to follow. the weather has been uncharacteristically gray all day. unfortunately, most of eonia’s students seem to be using the clouds that loom over them as an excuse to be in a dour mood. well – either that, or the drakon attack is still on their minds. honestly? it seems a bit melodramatic to beck. people die every day, especially demigods. he also has some sneaking suspicions about the intentions behind some of the more vocal grief surrounding paige’s death – it’s… interesting how half of the school suddenly seems to have been intimately familiar with the first-year student, that’s all.

          knowing that going back to the university would mean facing all the messy emotions that come with death, he’s hesitant to return to the apollo house. instead, a bar to his right catches his eye. fuck it, might as well. he slips in, eyes immediately scanning the bar’s clientele for a familiar face. he’d rather go back to his dorm than face the infinitely more depressing prospect of having to drink alone. after he spots his friend hiding out in the back, he quickly makes his way over, sinking down into the booth with a satisfied sigh.

          a good talking to… his statement makes maggie scoff, laugh caught in her throat. the possibilities run through her mind, so many ideas of retorts she could throw, but there’s something holding her back. maybe it’s the need to keep the peace, or the mass of people passing by, or her huge damned heart. hopefully, another day, she thinks, shifting to pull her legs even closer to her body. “yeah, give that thing a talk from me, too,” she chimes, a way to let beck know that he’s definitely not off the hook. 

          the confusion builds in the back of her mind because nothing makes sense. what concern is she to beck? why is he still so invested, sitting beside her? her teeth habitually find the inside of her lower lip, her head shakes from side to side, and her fingers knot into each other. “okay, you don’t have to wait with me, though. i’m not going home. it doesn’t fix or erase anything, you doing one kind act.” she stares at beck for a moment too long before returning to her post facing into the walkways of eonia. a piece of her planned on returning soon, at least for a while, maybe until it cleared out. but now, any option of that was out the window. a piece of her is rationalizing the situation; beck wanted to protect her, help her, even make her smile. in reality, she knows nothing excuses the entitlement and selfishness he showed in the past. 

          daydreaming in the distance, maggie catches sight of an fuzzy ball of fur huddled beneath some of the bushes that lined the campus buildings. joel wasn’t far away, but she audibly sighed relief as she shot up, quick as her reflexes would let her. “sorry, sorry— sorry! this is important,” she pleads while passing through the various students. joel is immediately in her arms, cocooned like a newborn baby, and maggie could even cry out of the joy she felt. she displays it in her face and in her voice, but not after her eyes lift up to find beck, sticking her tongue out.

        beck’s previously relaxed features are marred by a frown, as he tries to figure out the intent behind magnolia’s words. he thought she was content to let sleeping dogs lie, but maybe not. “i know,” he shoots back, finally holding her gaze for an extended period of time. he's so used to having to bite back ( so people don’t walk all over him ) and so used to not having anyone in his corner that the defensive tone slips out before he can stop it. he may have had the final say in their relationship, but it’s not like they had been on the same page before he broke it off. is she really expecting him to shoulder all the blame?

        however, after a pause, he repeats himself – quieter this time, sounding defeated. “i know that, maggie.” they had clearly always been better off as friends. instead of fighting over a relationship that was doomed from the start, he prefers to salvage their friendship – if at all possible. “i want to stay,” he adds with a light shrug. “joel might be a pain in the ass, but i'd still like to know he's safe.” it’s a lie, mostly. while maggie's pet had grown on him in the time they spent together, he still wouldn't put joel’s safety over his own. he's simply not ready to admit that his willingness to stay has much more to do with joel's owner than joel himself.

     the apollo house wasn’t exactly the quietest house to be living in on a normal day; the presence of a threat on eonia’s campus made it even worse.. between operating the infirmary and housing some of the loudest children who actively sought out to soothe themselves with music — well, it  had began to resemble a disaster. not far off from their father’s image, one might suppose.

     since he had volunteered for one of the patrolling shifts near the breach, jonas had missed the initial onslaught in the music room. the room had been left to near ruins, with instruments taken from their rightful place in favor of an apollo child’s room, or the infirmary, to help soothe both the tending and the injured.

     save for one guitar, and the grand piano that always remained situated in the same space. instinct, obviously, drove jonas to the guitar. then, footsteps sounded from behind them, signaling another one of his siblings entrance into the room. “i already called dibs,” he hadn’t; but that didn’t stop him from caressing the guitar like a child might’ve. “good luck carrying the piano.” @eubeck​

  beck’s arrival to the music room was accompanied by an eyeroll. apollo kids were nothing if not utterly predictable. while he’d been dutifully working his shift at the infirmary, the rest of his house had gotten busy stripping the room bare. still, a lone figure sat in the room, holding what looked to be the last guitar. jackpot. beck wasn’t above using flattery or bribes to get his hands on the instrument. the fact that it turned out to be jonas just made the job easier. 

   in most situations, it was jonas who came to beck, always desperate to be liked in that pleading puppy dog way that was simultaneously a little bit endearing and a little bit nauseating. the role reversal was unsettling, but he could work with it. “can’t even make an exception for your favorite brother?” his wording was intentional, of course. he rarely made reference to apollo’s other children being related to him, and he especially never omitted the “half” in “half-brother”.

shinjia: ugh it's so early.. but 8:50 is good with me.

jinwho: 👎 ill be sleeping until 9 am :)

jinwho: and what? are you scared of being in a horror movie? it sounds fun to me

itsamae: That's valid, Beck! But we can cover more ground if we split up

itsamae: + two demigods are less likely to attract monsters than all four together; you won't be alone either way and you're not expected to engage the drakon

itsamae: + if someone (jinwoo) is late they won't hold the entire group back

becknamkhet: The problem with horror movies is that people die in them, Jinwoo. In graphic ways.

      if anyone was gonna catch him out of a second story window, he supposed beck wasn’t too shabby of a choice. he looked… somewhat capable to catch minsoo, at the very least. as much as the son of hermes tried to pretend he was a tall, sexy beefcake, he probably weighed no more than 120 on a good day. and his height? well.. let’s not bring that up. but on the other hand, beck tended to mother him as much as… well, his mother. even though he USUALLY attempted to be a bit more lowkey about it. so maybe it wasn’t all that surprising that he started begging him to use the nearest staircase, instead.       the boy pouts in disapproval at the response. “what? no. that would COMPLETELY ruin the super stealthy, sneaky vibe i’m going for right now. and i need that vibe for my drakon hunting or else my game will be entirely off,” he rolls his eyes, voice edging into a whine as he explains what he (apparently) assumes to be a completely obvious explanation.        “come on, just hold your arms out, it’ll be fine!” he attempts to further convince the other boy, as if his plan was a completely sane and viable option.

      crossing his arms, beck takes a step back – it’s clear that he has no intention of playing any part in minsoo’s plan to self-destruct. “which part of jumping out of a window and breaking your arm sounds stealthy to you, exactly?” he pauses for a moment, before the full extent of minsoo's reply hits him and he gawks at the other male.

      most of the time, minsoo's cluelessness is almost a little endearing. (beck has also always suspected there's more to him than meets the eye – you don't gain however many followers minsoo now has without having somewhat of a clue of what you're doing, right?) this moment, right here? it's NOT one of those times.

          a disgusting curiousity got the better of magnolia because for both their sake, and before she opens her big mouth, she should send beck off. instead, she simply shrugs, frame still pointed forward. “cat got your tongue?” she teases, finally turning her body to offer a mocking smile. the fumbling of his words relax her, allow her to lose the rigidity of her shoulders. she only wishes she could release all her pent up thoughts, let him have it for how he left her in the dust, but she feels as if she has this secret key to who beck actually is, not who he wants others to view him. only, she wishes she didn’t. it’s because of this that she can only find the empathy in her heart to be kind, anger brewing slowly for another day.

          “you almost sound sweet, like your heart decided to work today.” maggie’s eyebrows knit together as she speaks, smile audible in her words, and she’s once again facing out. it’s neither a yes or a no, only an acknowledgement of his offer. “maybe joel will smell you or something, and it’ll help. animals are supposed to be able to sense good or bad, though, so i don’t know if i trust his judgment anymore.” her eyes are targeting joel’s favorite spots between the buildings, finding gaps in the students walking, but a piece of her is hopeless as well. “he doesn’t like crowds, so i don’t know…” words trailing off, she dropped her chin onto her knee, lip slightly jutted forward. “it might not even be worth it, waiting for him, but i don’t wanna just go inside.”

          it seems that maggie isn’t going in for the attack today. beck relaxes, breathing a quiet sigh of relief at her tone. her words might not be completely good-natured, but he can take her mocking him. they’ve said far worse to each other. as long as they don’t talk about what happened over the summer, they can pretend it never happened; at least for the moment, for this conversation. he’s not naive enough to think it’ll never come up. maggie isn’t the type to gloss over hurt feelings like that – that was always more his area of expertise. he doesn’t respond to her teasing, instead letting himself sink down on the grass next to her. there’s still a good few feet between them, as he doesn’t want to test the tentative ceasefire they seem to have in place for the moment.

itsamae: Good evening everyone! I thought I'd make this group to plan early on so we can get enough sleep for our morning shift tomorrow! :)

itsamae: I suggest we meet at the breach by 8:50, and from there we split into two groups to cover more area, how does that sound?

becknamkhet: I think staff put us in groups of four for a reason. Why would we split up? That sounds like the start of every horror movie lol

✉️  OUTGOING  TEXT  TO  ↬  ‘  beckalicious👹😍  ’

hyemi  :  knock  knock hyemi  :  just  making  sure  a  drakon  didnt  eat  ya  🤔 hyemi  :  if  u  ignore  me  ill  assume  ur  dead  nd  have  2  come  check  on  u

✉️  OUTGOING  TEXT  TO  ↬  ‘  Jeon Hyemi  ’

status › open. location › it’s a long story.       so, it wasn’t his brightest idea, really. a statement that could easily be said about most of minsoo’s ideas, in actuality. but he’d easily argue that adrenaline for defeating this BEAST was pushing him to take immediate action. and, of course, by defeating, he actually meant staring in awe from an incredibly safe (and hopefully) unnoticeable distance. his escape plan was… admittedly flawed, seeing as, upon further thought, it wasn’t even NEEDED, given his current (and bizarre) status as the ra for the hermes house.       but minsoo was never actually known for his intelligence, surprisingly enough.       which was why, beyond all reason, he was currently hanging out of his bedroom window. and well, most definitely, stuck. not really in the traditional sense of actually being stuck in a window, but like… there was no way he could safely jump down without breaking one of his (incredibly weak) ankles. he realized he could easily just head downstairs and walk out the front door at this point, but he was too dedicated to the task at hand. “psst,” he whispers to the other delinquent passing by. “i’ll give you ten bucks to catch me,” he offers, waggling his eyebrows obnoxiously.

the drakon attack had confirmed what beck had suspected for a long time – everyone at this university was ONE tense situation away from going fucking insane. some of the student population seemed to have gone into full-fledged panic mode, while most of the others were making plans to fight an ancient and terrifying snake die young. then there was beck’s group – the small (rational) minority that followed instructions, stayed inside and waited for the commotion to pass. he wasn’t sure which group minsoo belonged to, and he felt like he should probably find out, for his own peace of mind as much as for minsoo’s safety. after some unanswered calls, and even a voicemail that made him sound a little too much like a disgruntled parent for his own liking (“minsoo, i swear to god, why do you even have a phone if you’re not gonna pick up during EMERGENCIES”), he had reluctantly made his way out of the safety of the apollo house to the hermes house.