When Past and Present collide (Evy, Kimmy & Lucy)

[Evony Vasiliev]

The second day of the retreat had brought the sounds of singing birds and the touch of a generous sun, a perfect day to do something wholesome and good. Evony had finally organised a suitable time to introduce Lucy to Kimberly, her best friend who had only recently arrived from Kocher. The girl had already mentioned it to Lucy, several times in fact and practically begged her to do this, using her adorable yet strangely ineffective puppy dog face. The Australian was a hard nut to crack but she agreed and the Blue bird was rather ecstatic, and scared, about how this little meeting was going to go down. Kimmy was the sweetest girl ever and Lucy...well, Lucy was Australian and if stereotyping was anything to go by she was professional at being gruff and straight to the point. But Evy had faith that this was going to go down marvellously, having her 'ex' meet her current... person (really? Like what could she call her relationship with Lucy?!) had to be one of the thief's most grandest ideas yet.

The walk to Kimmy's cabin did not take long, Evy had forgone wearing any footwear like she normally did and allowed the gentle embrace of nature to relax the simmering giddiness before tapping on Pinky's door.

"Hey hey! It's me, are you ready or what?!" She chirped, poking her head through the window and scanning her gaze till the blue eyes locked on her pink haired target. "Well look at you, camping seems to be your thing!" Evony giggled, blowing a kiss to her friend before opening the door and giving zir a brief hug, nothing that would last too long; their new rules were relatively fresh and the porcelain skinned acrobat tried her best not to break them. She'd already faltered once and her heart still ached because of it, something which her tattooed 'bed-buddy' was yet to find out.

Linking arms with Kimmy, Evy pointed in the direction of their destination, offering the girl a cheery smile before tapping her heels and returning to base. Just looking at Kimmy, Evy knew that no one would be able to refuse such a pretty face, even Lucy had her charm and the hopeful thief thought it best to remain positive and encouraging through the entire thing. "Okay...it may be awkward but I promise you! She's really nice and pretty, I hope you like her, I really really do." Evy offered, lightly squeezing Kimmy's arm before rounding the corner of a flower kissed stump. "And before you ask, the bruises on my neck aren't hickies...I kinda got attacked by nerf guns yesterday..." She frowned, clicking her tongue at the memory of that horrendous assault.

It took only a minute or two before they had finally arrived back at Evy's cabin, door closed and windows shut. There was little chance she'd be met with another round of nerf wars, recycling that idea would have been pitiful, even for Sawyer!

Before knocking, Evy clasped Kimmy by the shoulder's and tenderly gazed into the familiar brown eyes. "Don't worry okay, she may say some weird Australian stuff but I'm sure she'll love you!" She smiled, taking in a deep breath before opening the door.

"Honey, I'm home ~" She sung playfully, hoping she wasn't going to get attacked by paint, nerf darts or anything else for that matter...

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy was... Apathetic to the idea of meeting the said individual whose name she kept being told as frequently as it was forgotten. To be frank, she didn't care either way, but it would have been a bigger pain in the ass to spend the next month or so saying no. Or worse, to be bombarded when she wasn't ready for it. So that was where she stood. Apathetic.

And forgetful.

See, the eldest Serrano was camped up on her top bunk, back against the wall and legs crossed with a very important nerf gun perched in her lap. But that wasn't what she was paying attention to. Her eyes were in the electronic device on her hands. She was still going old school with the little game boy, but playing something much more challenging than tetris. Because bitch, everything was more challenging than that shit. Niceties included.

Given the state of the heat under the sun which most people were enjoying, Lucy had again opted for denim shorts cut high enough for the bottom end of her thigh tattoo to appear. If she were to get up, that was. That and a dark printed tank top with sleeve holes low enough to flash a decent stint of both her black - always black - bra, and the written tattoo on her left side. When they walked in... Well...

Initially, Lucy replied with an audible grumble. Her lips twisted into a frown. Until a giant pink flag caught the corner of her eye.

"Jesus," She said as she looked up and her dark eyes widened, "Got a friend in every fucking colour or something?" What were the odds? "Something in the water at bloody Kocher? Does everyone rainbow-up over there? Is it a thing?"

[Kimmy Abernathy]

Once she had gotten over the initial shock of realizing she had kissed someone who was monogamously partnered (or... something close to that), Kimmy had been overjoyed to know that Evony had found someone like that for herself. She had been quite interested to meet this Lucy, and Evy had shared her sentiment. Kimmy had sensed her excitement and nervousness, unsure if the latter was coming from general nerves or from a fear that the two of them wouldn't be compatible personalities. Strong emotions almost always came in contrasting pairs like that, so it was hard to tell.

Ze had made sure to leave enough time to get dressed before Evy arrived, knowing how excited she was for this and not wanting to make them late. Kimmy was finishing up zir makeup when Evy knocked at the door. "Heyhey! It's me, are you ready or what?" Ze hurriedly finished zir eyeliner and raced to the door, greeting zir friend with a big hug. Evy broke it off a bit earlier than ze expected, and Kimmy hurriedly took a step back. Apparently the new rules would take a bit of getting used to for both of them.

"Aren't these cabins just the cutest thing?" Kimmy gushed while linking arms with her friend and heading towards Lucy's cabin.

"Okay...it may be awkward but I promise you! She's really nice and pretty, I hope you like her, I really really do." Kimmy smiled encouragingly, feeling a trace of both eagerness and nervousness behind the words. Hopefully they would - she really didn't want to start off on a bad note with Evy's... uh... partner? Monogamous sex buddy? Lucy was an important person, in any case, which was what mattered.

"It'll be fine, I'm sure," ze said encouragingly as the two of them stopped at Lucy's cottage. The door opened up, and... well.

"Jesus, got a friend in every fucking colour or something? Something in the water at bloody Kocher? Does everyone rainbow-up over there? Is it a thing?"

Lucy's appearance was as striking as her first impression. Dark eyes and hair, tattoos everywhere, and an introduction which left Kimmy momentarily speechless. I guess this is what Evy meant by 'weird Australian stuff?' she managed to think. Should... should she actually answer that question? She couldn't quite get an emotional reading on Lucy yet, so it was hard to tell what she was actually looking for. "Yeah, the water's just enchanted," she managed to joke, feeling rather self-conscious.

[Evony Vasiliev]

Now, Evony would be lying to herself if she denied planning out the dialogue and interactions between the tattooed beauty and the pink haired minx. Everything was set in a hypothetical fantasy, one which placed a relatively happy Lucy behaving rather mildly with the ever-gracious Kimmy. Both girls would get along, maybe share a laugh or two and part ways knowing Evy wouldn't alienate either of them. Of course this was the most positive outcome of a situation hinged on the hopes of a zany circus girl. But dreams are for free and the Blue Bird wasn't one to pass over a freebie.

Her entry was all she could muster considering the pressure on her skinny bones. Kimmy meeting Lucy, what could possibly go wrong? With fingers crossed and a hopeful grin plastered on her face Evy set her eyes on the Australian, praying that this wasn't going to be awkward.

But it would never be that straightforward, it was Lucy after all.

A nervous laugh bounced off the girl's lips as she flickered her eyes from Lucy back to Kimmy and then to her hair. It wasn't that colourful! The blue was actually getting a lot fainter but the same couldn't be said for Kimmy, whose pink hair shone amongst the dingy browns and greys of the cabin. Forcing a smile, Evony trained her gaze on Lucy, rattling her tongue piercing momentarily before taking a step forward, her eyes level with Lucy's knees.

"As a matter of fact I do thank you very much! You just happen to be the last on my list. Black!" She flippantly retorted, glancing back at Kimmy to gauge any possible reaction. This was already getting awkward. Quick thinking was a must if the thief wanted any positive outcome from this.

"Anyways!" She clapped, clearing her throat before motioning towards Kimmy. "Lucy, this is Kimmy." She smiled, swivelling on the balls of her feet as she tossed her attention between both girls. "Kimmy, this is Lucy." The acrobat gently motioned, glancing at Lucy with tentative eyes. Now please be friends! she mentally pleaded, tugging at a lock of cerulean hair to relinquish stress.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy barely registered Evony in the room. It was clear from the get go that her attention was on the stranger in her space. She didn't own the cabin, no. But she'd defended it. And claimed it. It was hers. And there, she finally spoke. The water. Was. Enchanted? Lucy pressed her lips into a line for a moment before exhaling a very broad laugh. "What the actual fuck." Some idot she was already turning out to be.

"It's brown, dumbass." A very, very dark brown.

Twisting her lips to one side, Lucy literally cringed at Evony's attempt at a cheerful tone of voice. She looked up briefly from the screen before her again, her eyes narrowing with a scrutinising gaze across Kimmy. From top to toe, the Australian slowly scoped her out. "Hn." She offered, raising her eyebrows before leaning back against the wall again.

"Okay." Lucy started, this time lifting her eyes right to Evony. "Can we be done now? I'm sure she has a gang war to go to." She flicked her dark eyes over towards Kimmy, curiosity colouring her features; "Though what gang picks the colour pink? It's like you want the Kocher Blue's to shit all over you, lady."

[Kimmy Abernathy]

Kimmy's eyes flitted between Evony and Lucy during the somewhat tense exchange. Ze could feel Evy's tension, straining at the Empathic connection like a weight hung on a string. Though the readings from Lucy were still somewhat vague - irritation, perhaps? Apathy? - it didn't exactly take an Empath to tell that Lucy wasn't all that enthusiastic about this meeting. Kimmy's stomach clenched as the possibility occurred to zir of Lucy being upset with zir for the kiss between zir and Evony. Did she know about that? Was that was this was about, or was this just Lucy's personality? Was there something about Kimmy zirself that she just found viscerally unpleasant?

Lucy's response to Evy's introductions just solidified the fact that she didn't really want to be there. "Okay. Can we be done now? I'm sure she has a gang war to go to. Though what gang picks the colour pink? It's like you want the Kocher Blue's to shit all over you, lady." She had a... unique sense of humor. Okay, then.

"Oh, I'm sure I wouldn't last five seconds in a gang, regardless who I was up against," Kimmy joked lightly. It was true - she wouldn't hurt a fly.

[Evony Vasiliev]

Evony's initially cheery facade had quickly faded into something more akin to concern and bewilderment, her brow furrowed and the ebullient grin dwindling to nothing more than a weak smile. Her back was turned to Kimmy, but there really wasn't much point to that, her friend would know if something was up. A tense environment wasn't something the thief wanted for her beautiful pink haired accomplice, all she required was, at the very least, a mutual friendliness between both parties. But that was going horribly as well.

Every word spilling out of Lucy's mouth made the Blue bird cringe even harder, hoping to heaven that Kimmy wouldn't take any of it seriously. Regardless, this was nothing like how she had planned and the mere vitriol spewing from the Australian was enough for her to call it quits then and there.

But...she wasn't going to give up, just yet anyways.

Turning to Kimmy with an exasperated smile Evy searched her friend's shimmering eyes in hopes of finding something, any hint of distress meant the end of this meeting but the acrobat scoured the depths of the girl's gaze for emotional support.

"Well, I'm sure you could last longer than her anyways." Evy added, flashing a quick gaze at the Australian roosting atop the bed. That wasn't going to help, but she wanted to say something.

One last chance, if this turns to shit Kimmy was going to leave. For her own safety and state of mind, the last thing Evy wanted was for her to be stressed...especially over something so stupid.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy was a difficult read for most when it came to powers. Even the exuberantly skilled Chester Douglas struggled with the act of reading her thoughts - it often appeared as sporadic and muddled as her train of thought could be. Emotions? Well, that was possibly worse. Because the Australian didn't radiate with hostility or annoyance; not like most who act her way do. She wasn't tense or stressed by the altercation she was involved in. If nothing else was clear, one thing was; she thought it - and this - was funny.

She exhaled on a short scoff at Kimmy's answer. Okay.

And it was strange to the Australian how Evony chose to respond. She raised an eyebrow, staring across the way towards her in her own silence before she just... Laughed.

She literally threw her head back in a laugh, so dumbfounded by the severe awfulness of the blue haired girl's response. When the sound of judgmental hilarity died down, Lucy leaned back against the wall once more and crossed her arms, looking past both of them.

"Double-dye job," She shot out with a small flick of her hand, "Get out."

[Kimmy Abernathy]

Kimmy gave Evony a reassuring smile when the girl looked back at zir, though zir eyes were tinged with worry and confusion. Ze would try this as long as Evy wanted to because ze cared about her so much. However, if ze was honest with zirself, part of zir wondered why the girl had chosen a companion who seemed so... abrasive and apathetic to Evy's own desires. If Lucy cared about her so much, wouldn't she put some effort into a meeting that Evy was so obviously enthusiastic about..? I probably just caught Lucy on a bad day, or something I said rubbed her the wrong way, ze assured zirself. Some people were very idiosyncratic like that, with specific things that would make them respond well or poorly. In any case, ze didn't like thinking poorly of people. Ze trusted Evy's judgement, didn't ze? Then there must be something in Lucy that outshined the surface abrasiveness.

However, picking up on Lucy's amusement burrowed a hole in Kimmy's confidence. Was... was she amused at Kimmy? She couldn't tell, but the possibility felt... awful. Lucy's harsh laugh only drove the hole further. It felt like she was laughing at her.

Oh, no no no. No.

It didn't really matter why she was laughing, it felt the same to Kimmy. She had felt like that before all too many times... the bullying in her past combined with the way girls like her were treated by most of society often just made her feel like a bad joke. She was a sensitive person as it was, history aside, and she couldn't stand feeling like she was being laughed at. Her face fell as she stood there, acid eating at her breast.

Ze could try to scramble for reasons why Lucy probably wasn't laughing at zir, but it really didn't matter. Zir limits were zir limits, and ze wasn't going to stand here feeling borderline triggered while there was a clear way to escape the situation. Ze glance at Evony, an apologetic yet hurt expression on zir face, and mouthed, "Sorry" as ze turned on zir heels and walked out of the cabin a moment before Lucy demanded zir to.