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location: the costume closet

when he and lucas had decided to audition for the rocky horror picture show, rhys literally never thought that it would actually end in them getting roles. he wasn't sure if the group was desperate, or if they thought the show was in need of some eye candy, but either way, there were worse things for him to do than prance around in a pair of glorified boxers and let everyone fawn over him. so far, he was determined to raise a ton of money for beta rho omega, and wasn't that all that mattered in the end?

as rhys was getting fitted for the costume, insisting that the shorts needed to be tigther in order to not fall down while he was prancing across the stage, rhys was a little surprised to see his understudy stop by. there was a lot of weirdness around that situation, but he was under the impression that the whole understudy thing was just a formality to smooth over ruffled feathers. rhys didn't have much of a greeting for him-- what was his name, again? "you here for any specific reason, or just enjoying the view?"

"what view?" there was totally a view, one he would have stopped and appreciated if he wasn't so butthurt over losing the part, but, alas. "i forgot my vape in here. have you seen it?" a lie - he'd come in to see the costume that he could have gotten the chance to wear, but he hadn't realized it was going to be on the body of the person who had stolen the part from him. "it's pink."

🎙️           ˚           ﹕ㅤㅤ     billy should probably be more cognizant whenever she made little comments under her breath, couldn't really mute herself in a face to face like she normally would in a broadcast booth so her audience couldn't hear any unnecessary snark. but still, she cocked her head and looked at bear with feigned innocence. "  what? i didn't say anything.   " she said, brows furrowed as she slowly shook her head in faux confusion, so natural that it would be so believable if the truth didn't exist just a few seconds. "  but i believe you anyway. that you can climb up the garage, at least. your survival is a whole another question, however.   " and billy looked at the tall structure for a second, wincing at the idea of anyone doing such daredevil acts. "  but you caught me,   " she chuckled sarcastically as she brought her gaze back to him, hands briefly raised in fake surrender. "  people say i've been touched by death.   " no they don't. "  but death doesn't want to claim me. he just takes the people around me, especially the ones who make bad decisions around me. and this shit?   " she gestured at the parking garage for a second, and hoped that bear was superstitious enough not to actually climb the goddamn structure. "  a decision worse than the cheerios coach trying to commission the engineering department about a human cannon.   "

"not even death wants you? is it because of the buzzkill thing, or...?" bear picks at a loose piece of string coming from his sweater, before his attention is fully back on billy when she mentions a project he hadn't realized had been unveiled to the public. "...wait, you heard about that? who told you? it's not finished yet."

and what a terrible realization. but she couldn't let herself catastrophize on that front any further when they had an experiment to get to.

pulling her textbook towards herself to skim over the instructions they were meant to be committing to follow, lore had to admit that bear and the rest of the club were right.

"a basic chemical reaction. this is elementary school stuff, at best," she murmured mostly to herself, already ready to concede that bear's leadership of the club would lead to more interesting work. but that was vibes-based, not evidence-based. and so, she asked the question he'd lined up for her perfectly.

"next week they'll have us making paper mache volcanoes, at this rate." bear huffs, setting his pen down on the page as he looks over it with a grimace. "definitely not anything from this book, that's for sure. something with robotics, maybe - that's my expertise, but i'd be open to other fields. just as long as it was actually interesting."

At the mention of pride, she lifted a brow. "It is," she agreed, "But so is presuming authority that doesn't belong to you." Harsh, maybe. She glanced in his direction with a pointed look, though it wasn't unkind. "That's why we leave the smiting to the man upstairs," she pointed her index finger upwards.

Then, a pause, considering, "Or natural consequences."

there wasn't anything presumptuous about the authority he very much intended on having one day, in his opinion, but he knew better by now than to correct her on that. it wasn't something people ever seemed to believe him on, but one day, well... he'd show them all. and they'd regret ever doubting him, because he had no plans on being a merciful ruler. for now, though, he just shoots abilene a small smile and a nod, offering a simple "if you say so," before taking a sip of water to avoid letting anything else slip out of his mouth.

 after   searching   (   and   sadly   not   finding   )   a   spot   in   one   of   her   usual   places   luci   decided   to   check   out   her   work   for   the   week   in   the   library.   at   least   it   would   be   quiet   there   and   nobody   would   bother   her   unless   absolutely   necessary.   which   is   why   she   internally   screaamed   when   someone   did   decide   to   actually   bother   her. she   turned   to   the   other   probably   glaring   at   them   as   if   her   eyes   could   end   them.   at   the   question   she   dropped   her   gaze   to   the   folder   in   front   of   her.   like   who   does   that   even   in   times   like   these   ?   "   really   bear   you   want   to   come   bother   me   to   look   at   articles.   don't   you   have   something   better   to   do.   I   know   I   have   something   better   to   do   " she   looked   at   the   articles   managing   to   keep   a   neutral   face.   "   the're   articles   so   what   ...   i   don't   see   what   you   want   me   to   say   about   them.   you   know   just   as   well   as   anybody   else   that   not   everything   you   find   on   the   internet   is   valid.   "

Her fingers smoothed the edge of her napkin again, a habit, trying to keep everything as pristine as it was before she touched it. "Try to keep the gum in your pocket, though," she suggested. It wasn't that she didn't understand that Sully was a bit much, but it was his safe space, too. "I'm not sure how well my reputation would be if he had a bald head for the rest of the semester." The visual alone brings just the smallest of smiles to her face.

"i will try my best, i promise." it wouldn't be easy - that guy was just asking to have a wad of gum stuck on the back of his head, but, for her, he would at least attempt not to disrupt the meeting. no matter how much it might be deserved. "could be the bruising his ego desperately needs. isn't pride a sin?" so was theft, but bear didn't seem quite as concerned with that part. "...but i guess it's not my responsibility to dole out the punishments for it." no matter how much he might like the idea of playing god.

luckily, she didn't have a chance to ponder that question, because bear soon appeared, a welcome and only slightly wet presence.

"that's alri-oh," she paused when she processed what he'd just said. "the joys of living in abrams, i guess." but it seemed for the best to not focus on their maybe haunted dorm and the joys (terrors) of a communal bathroom. instead, she quickly moved on to answer their question. "no, you're good. the others paired off to start their experiments, but it seems like everyone's still reading over the outline in the textbook. or... they might not be excited for today's experiment and they're pretending to read. it's kind of basic."

his little rant comes to an end as he finds the right page, lifting his head to take a quick glance around at their other club members, and, a little disappointendly, realizes that their newest experiment is, in fact, basic. "they should let me pick what we do in here sometime. it'd be way more fun, and i have so many good ideas that i could use some more hands for." also potentially hazardous and could risk causing expensive damage to the lab, but, hey, that was the fun of it! "they're holding us back in here."

🎙️           ˚           ﹕ㅤㅤ    the next moment was spent in complete silence, though her stare spoke a thousand words, all too harsh and too baffled to be spoken out loud. she'd been meeting with different extracurricular representatives, conducting short interviews to get a better perspective of respective clubs so she could plug them in her show, but the last thing he expected was for the robotics representative to be some wanna spiderman. "  the initials make more sense now,   " billy said under her breath before clearing her throat and plastering a polite smile on her lips. "  no,   " a nervous chuckle, slowly shaking her head. "  i'd rather not watch you fall headfirst, crack your skull, and change the trajectory of my life forever. i've had quite enough of those.   "

it was a look of shock and awe that crossed her features when sully had the audacity to sit in cece's seat. and when he put her cardigan on his shoulders, she snatched it back. "that's not your color." was all she said as she moved to place it in the open seat on the other side of her. perhaps cece wouldn't even notice the mix up. "who are you partnered up with again?" she asked, turning back to sully as she took a sip from her waterbottle.

truthfully, goldie had stopped listening to the pairs once she got her assignment partner and realized she wasn't going to be paired up with one of her fellow cheerios. and even if she had been paying attention, there was no chance she was going to remember like 15 pairings. "i don't even think i've talked to the girl im supposed to work with before. if this assignment goes poorly, we can just threaten to leave. like you said, if we go, all the others will follow and then glee club will be like... stella, julian and a bunch of average looking people swaying in the background" she doubted anyone would step up as the group choreographers with her and sully gone.

"what's her name? maybe i know her - she cute?" priorities. sully's demeanor shifts, just a little, at the thought of having to threaten to leave, causing his arms to cross over his chest in defiance at the idea without him realizing. he liked it here. maybe he wouldn't admit it, but he did, and he wasn't too sure he wanted to risk the bluff of having to potentially leave - even if it could lead to them getting their way. "i dunno. that... seems a little drastic. it's just one stupid assignment. we'll get another stupid one next week. not like any of this actually matters."