levieu:
“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.
“don’t even say that, you know i’d be first in line,” he complains, knocking on their table – even though it’s unlikely that it’s made from real wood. “not because i’d be of any use in an uprising, but because apollo is sick of me by now. it’d be just the excuse he needs. put in a good word for me with hades, will you?” while his tone matches levi’s attempt at gravitas, he knows his words are ridiculous – if the gods wanted him dead, he would have been long gone already.