Where Worlds Wrap Around (Dom)

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

That night, everything was confusing. Everything was messy and muddled. Everything was well and truly fucked.

And it wasn't even her fault.

Lucy almost immediately left the cabin when she was sure all Evony's stuff was out of there. There was no way in hell she was willingly sleeping in the same room as someone like that. There were spares spaces around anyway. And if worst came to worst, she could surely ask her cotton candy coloured mess of a girlfriend for a little help.

As she walked, she knew she wasn't sure where she could go. She knew the cabin was safe from accidental run ins with the blue haired little shit, but not from her actual friends. And in her current mind state, she wasn't sure she could lie her way through that whole situation. Yet. She most definitely would eventually - in a little while. An hour at most. An hour to clear her head.

But this was how these things went - just as you didn't want to see someone, you always would. And in Lucy's case, she looked up from the ground and realised that there was a certain blonde twin heading in her general direction. Sure, he probably wasn't coming at her. They were bound to cross paths. So when they did, Lucy didn't stop walking. She just turned and glanced over her shoulder; "You were right, Homo," Hell, even she laughed, "She is crazy."

[Dominique Chevalier]

It had always been an admirable thing that it hadn't taken Lucy long to be able to tell Dom from Carter, not that Dom was ever going to tell her that. He'd been exploring, given that after playing truth or dare he'd decided that pretty much everyone he was on this stupid retreat was idiotic, and Carter had been sent back which was honestly the worst news of the entire stupid thing.

Lucy was not someone he was sure he wanted to see right now; he'd been doing his best to go back to his pre-talk idea of just avoiding her and, thus, avoiding any stupid things that could happen.

Like getting punched in the face.

Still, it didn't feel great when she just walked right past him. His lips pressed a little tighter, but when he heard her, and the faint tinge of something that was not funny in her laugh, he turned and caught her upper arm. His eyes scanned her face before he said anything; well the blue haired bitch had been known to lash out, hadn't she? But Lucy seemed bruise free, and he exhaled.

"I'm always right," he said with a slight shrug, but his expression wasn't as carefree as it should have been. Are you ok? is what he knew he should say, but instead he just cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows. "She set something on fire?" he asked. "Cut your hair? Did she touch your rabbit?"

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

When Dom held Lucy's arm, there was a sliver of a second where she was grateful. Or perhaps not grateful - perhaps that wasn't the right word. But it meant something from the boy who rarely spoke to her anymore. It meant something that he at least wanted to make contact with her.

But when she forcibly turned to look at him, her dark eyes were bitter with resentment. As if she wished he hadn't touched her. As if he were trying to stop a hurricane.

"She's nothing." She Australian snapped, pulling her arm back violently. And she scoffed, her lips twisting into a smirk as bitter as the rest of her expression. "At least she didn't hit me."

[Dominique Chevalier]

"Evidently," Dom said flatly, having had a good look at Lucy's face. He met her eyes and didn't so much as waver, despite the hostility he saw in them. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe that would make it easier to forget her legs hooked over his as she wrapped around him like some damn limpet as she slept.

But, Evony was nothing?

For the sake of his mind, Dom knew he should just turn around and leave. It wasn't his problem if Lucy and that psycho had had a fight. Hell, it wasn't like he hadn't warned her, indirectly, that she was a nutcase.

It had gotten Lucy this upset though. He hadn't seen her like this in... Well, maybe ever. And so the words came, unbidden and very much against his will even as his arm returned to his side. "Are you ok?" The last syllable was cut off, as if he'd finally come to his damn senses three words too late.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy's arms folded in front of her chest as he spoke the singular word. Her stance was defiant, intrusive to the situation. She knew she should have walked away. She knew it was smarter. He had a cold stare to his eyes - as he always did. The rare time she thought she'd seen them soften was with the sliver of compassion he once offered. A night of solitude. The kind people probably didn't ask of him.

They didn't talk about it. And at any rate, he barely spoke to her anymore.

She resisted the initial urge to scoff. Instead, she exhaled on an almost sadistic laugh. He knew he was painful; she breathed as if in some capacity, she liked it. "Why wouldn't I be?" She asked, her shoulders shrugging with the simplistic phrase. She was always okay. And so was he, right?

"It's not like you care either way," Lucy started, despite her efforts. Despite how she knew she was playing with fire. "Right, Chevalier?" A raise of her eyebrows. It was a question; one people rarely answered. One he probably would, knowing him.

So she took a small step back, looking to make an exit and continue on the trail secluded by nightfall. "You're only looking to prove you were right."

[Dominique Chevalier]

It wasn't as though Dom was new to Lucy's flippancy, but given what asking had cost him, it still stung. For a moment the skin between his eyebrows crease as he scowled at her, opening his mouth to exclaim. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't-" his mouth snapped shut, jaw flexing. He raised a hand and rubbed it over his lips, turning away for a moment until he was sure he'd collected himself.

He shifted his weight, feeling the urge to just push off and let the earth give him some momentum. He could go and get high, get caught, go back to Hammel and see Carter, get high with Carter and just forget about this whole thing.

What would Carter say if he knew that Lucy was fighting with Evony?

... What would he say if Carter had been dating someone who'd upset him?

Who the hell could upset Carter? That was a useless train of thought. Even the idea of it was making him want to go back to Hammel now, just to check.

Lucy could come with him. But, no. That wouldn't-

"I don't need to prove anything to you," he said flatly, closing the few feet of between them and leaving only centimeters between their noses. "Not sure what you're trying to pull, Serrano. Not my fault you have really shitty taste in who you lock lips with." He would not back down; she could unleash all the rage she needed to. He could do that, for her.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy responded with a vindicated nod of her head to one side, as if it were a given. She should have expected an answer like that. It wasn't as if he'd leave something like that open ended without a sharp response. She knew who she was dealing with, and this time she didn't care to match, defend or advance as their usual parries went. She lacked clear cut precision and - in short - a point to her argument, like flailing wild.

She felt herself clench her jaw when he got close like that. Feeling his heated breath against her skin wasn't a welcome distraction. It was annoying. But taking a step back was akin to admitting defeat.

"Too fucking right," She agreed, raising her eyebrows. After all, he was on that list too. "Suddenly thinking so low of yourself? Or is it just me and my shitty choices you're shitting all over."

[Dominique Chevalier]

Dom had stuffed both of his hands into his pockets during his walk, but they were at his side now as one tapped out a quick tempo on his thigh. However, his face remained completely flat like river-smoothed rock. His voice was not as flat as his expression when he pressed his lips together tightly before speaking. "Well they're your choices," he said, then exhaled sharply and rubbed the back of his neck.

Under him, the dirt rose slightly to cover his feet before slipping back down as Dom swept the hair from his eyes with a sharp flick of the head. His throat worked as he swallowed.

"After all, no one made you kiss her."

The instinct was to duck his head, but Dom had learned to shove that feeling aside a few years ago and he kept his eyes right on hers. His hands were still at his side, just.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Compared to Dom's demanour, Lucy was a fire burning too hot for its own good. More destructive than anything else; untamed fired ran rampant. But cool-surfaced rocks rarely showed a scuff by burning embers.

She took a slow, uneven breath in and held it for a moment or so before exhaling it all in the form of a response. Breathing. She could breathe her way through this. It offered a kind of stability. This time when she breathed, she exhaled on a laugh; robust with a sense of humour that most would find twisted. "Oh, you wanna talk about choices?" She asked, raising her hand to run it along her jaw. A simple twitch.

"Let's talk about how you can hardly look at me since-" Her voice cut short, and she briefly glanced away before catching his eyes again. Admitting to platonically sharing a bed with the resident whore wasn't high on her list of priorities. His either, she imagined. "You got a reason for that choice?"

[Dominique Chevalier]

Of course there was a reason, and Dom's lips worked as he stared at her and gritted his teeth. His foot started tapping quickly on the dirt, the dust flying up much higher then it should as he let out a short sharp sigh and stared at his feet for just a moment. Carter would have some idea what to do. He dragged a hand through his hair and then dropped his hand down and then reached out and grabbed both of her arms.

"Yeah, I have a reason," he said, blonde eyebrows drawn down. His thumbs slid up and down her upper arms, the softer gesture a sharp contrast to his tone. "How's this for a reason. Ever since....," her legs had been smooth and her hair had smelled like his own shampoo. And even before that- the earth had literally shaken. "Je pense à toi!" he snapped. "Every fucking day, Lucy. So fuck that."

Despite the words he had not pushed away, or tried to push her away. "I like my life," he said, with a hint of desperation. "Mais vous faites ce si difficile."

He still hadn't dropped his hands from her arms as he pulled closer. "But at least I know it's my choice, and I don't go jumping into people's beds when things backfire, and use their shampoo, and cut up their shirts."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy's steely expression was rattled when he touched her. So much so that she dropped her gaze down to his hands. Her arms, secured in a fold before her chest lost a little of their strength and stature.

When he said he had a reason, her eyes softened very briefly. It was the subtle hint of a pleading demeanour. That whatever the reason was, it had better be worth the decimation of whatever friendship they had. In that moment, he was all she had left by way of close friends. At least, close friends who were around. She didn't even bother turning her eyes to his hands again when he offered the soft, simple gesture across her skin. It felt like her every muscle was being doused by a light rain, softly tending to the flames of her unbridled anger.

This wasn't okay. What the hell was he doing now?

"That's not a reason!" She all but shouted at him. He was speaking in a different language at such crucial points in the conversation - he could have been saying anything. Unfurling her arms, she twisted around within his grasp and took hold of his forearms. "What the fuck did I do to you, huh?" She seethed the words in his face;

"What'd I do that made you abandon me?"

[Dominique Chevalier]

Baring the brunt of Lucy's shouting, Dom still didn't move back. Be a smooth stone, let it all roll off. And even as he stayed still his mind was moving quickly, and not all in english. The key moments, the things he was saying that mattered, those were the ones he’d spat in a tongue he knew she wouldn’t understand.

And then she grabbed him, and he could feel her hands on his arms. They were clutching each other, and Dom’s jaw clenched again as a muscle at the side of his face twitched.

His scowl deepened, eyes narrowing at the word abandoned. He had abandoned her?

“You,” he spat, “You say that? No, no, mon trésor,” he pulled her closer, almost flush against his own self, “You started it. You started all of it,” letting go of one of Lucy’s arms, Dom reached up and curled his fingers in her hair. “And you’re driving me crazy.”

He wanted to kiss her. So he did, pulling her closer towards him as he slipped his other arm around his waist before pulling back and staring at her, then swore quietly.

In french.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy felt the weight of his gaze as she held onto him. She clung to him, like she was falling and he was the only lifeline available. The only lifeline left. She knew her words were as heavy as his darkened glare, but that didn't matter.

It was true.

He was supposed to be a friend. A good friend or not, he was supposed to be one. He wasn't supposed to be so selfish about things that had nothing to do with him! When he pulled her inward - pressed fast against himself - the act itself was almost overwhelmingly exhilarating. Lucy Serrano was not a girl many thought to take charge of. The rarity of the moment was-

No, he was intoxicating; thrilling in comparison the timid nature of her former companion.

So she felt frozen in the moment, even when he let her go. She felt free of his hands but not his gaze as her mind raced to catch up with the effervescent beating of her heart. Or was that his heart? She wanted to understand why his fingers were curling amidst the dark locks of her long hair. Why he was calling her things she didn't know how to translate. Why he was using his bilingual stance to torment her; offering undecipherable information at such point blank range.

Dom was by no means a gentle individual. But when he leaned inwards and pressed his lips against hers, she could have sworn they belonged to another person. When his arm slid around her waist and drawled her against him again, she wondered who this person was. But - sad as it might have seemed - she found herself giving into the temptation of being wanted. Not played for an idiot. Not selfishly lied to. Not deceived by a kleptomaniac's desire for companionship in the dead of night. Really wanted. So she let the gorgeous French boy kiss her, even going so far as to rest her hands against his chest in the process. It barely lasted a moment or two.

Because in the next moment, her gentle hands were forcibly pushing him away, and her fingers were dragging across the line of her mouth. "What are you doing?" She asked, looking at him with distressed dark eyes. "It's over! You don't have anything left to prove, or... Or-or win. So what are you doing to me?"

[Dominique Chevalier]

The moment Lucy pushed him away Dom let her, because he'd felt it. Her hand on his chest had been there before she'd pushed him, and he let out a ragged breath as he pushed his hair back from his face. "I don't know what I'm doing," he said, a little desperately. The ground was unstable under his feet. "I don't- I want-"

His expression wasn't cold, or calculating, or disdainful. The usually perfectly styled platinum blonde hair was in disarray, which was the fault of his own hands, and the blue eyes that met Lucy's were open extremely wide. His pupils were blown wide.

Be stone.

Dom took another breath, this one a little more steady. "I'm not trying to prove anything," he said with deliberate slowness, now staring very stubbornly at the ground. "Not to you, anyway." His pulse was hammering in his throat, and his toes dug into the earth below him. "It's not about winning" the terrakenetic said suddenly, looking up. "Not the way you think. I want to kiss you again."

This time his mouth stayed open, his jaw dropping for just a moment before Dom brought a hand to rub over his mouth as he turned away and swore, loudly, as he kicked at the dirt.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy looked at him with defined desperation; her dark eyes matched the glance his crystal blue's were offering. But she knew him. She was sure she did. She knew him better than he seemed to know himself at this point. There had to be a reason why he was acting like this.

"Why can't I believe you?" Lucy asked, shaking her head as she caught his eyes again. Though that eye contact was short lived, as his attention was back to belittling the ground again.

It wasn't about winning, but it was. He'd all but said it was.

"Because you can't prove it." She finished for him, before he even got a chance to calculate a response. Taking a step forward, Lucy launched herself towards him and gripped the fabric of his shirt when his back was to her. "Because it's always a fucking game with you!" Despite her tone, Lucy exhaled a heavy sigh within the silence.

Tentatively, the Australian leaned forth and pressed her forehead to his shoulder blade.

She knew she was right. She let the fabric unfurl from her fingers. "Always."