Just Stop Holding Your Tongue

[Michael Blaise]

Michael was upset. His little sister was ignoring him, and it was her birthday. It was fair enough for Penny to go and do what she wanted for the day, but Michael knew that his baby sister was never one on celebrating, and that, to him, was a bit of a waste. Yes, she could reject his calls, ignore his texts, but she couldn't very well do anything if he showed up at her dorm, right?

It wasn't much, but Michael walked into the common room with a bouquet of flowers; yellow lilies and sunflowers. When he knocked on the door, however, there wasn't an answer. The silence on the other side of the door drew a frown from the man, and he let out a sigh. “Pen?” he called out, knocking again. It wouldn't have been the first time she ignored him. After a few moments, he reached for the handle. Locked. He sighed again, looking around the common room as if by doing so would somehow make her appear.

There were three options left at this point. Check around the school, go home, or stay there until Penny showed up. Staying seemed like the most logical option, and so Michael sat down, placing the bouquet on the table.

...And so he waited. Michael pulled out his phone, straightening his back as he started to play Tetris on it. Knowing his sister, she never strayed too far from her dormitory for too long. It had only been a few minutes before he heard the door open to the common room, and grinned, looking up to see--

A tattooed up student?

He raised his eyebrows, but still offered a polite smile. “Oh, hello!” She must have been one of Penny's roommates.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Unaware that the day had any significance, Lucy was simply going through the new found normality of how things were. She rarely ever really bothered making it known that she was going to visit before she did, and really, it was rare that that approach failed her. Though truthfully, the times she could readily recall were relatively negative.

But texting Penny was just... Weird. She didn't know why. It just didn't seem to suit her.

Walking into the common area without knocking, Lucy immediately stopped in her tracks. There was a guy - older than most here, but really, so was she - sitting at a table with a grin on his face and a painfully bright display of flowers settled in front of him. Her first thought was that Liv really did break up with the slightly douchey guy Lucy thought was an absolute boss. And that she'd moved on already.

Besides, it wasn't as if Lucy knew their other roommates. And it was weird to think any guy would be rocking up to visit Penny. Any resemblance was lost on her, as she looked over his face when he greeted her.

"Hey." She replied, lacking the brighter tones he'd offered. The kind that just seemed ingrained into the way he spoke. Without a second thought, she crossed the distance to Penny's door and knocked.

No answer. And the door itself? Locked.

Twisting her mouth into a frown, the tatted up meta rocked back on a heel, glancing over her shoulder at the guy briefly before heading back towards the door. She'd just come back later.

[Michael Blaise]

Michael wasn’t phased by the girl’s lack of enthusiasm; he knew very well that he was a bit more chipper than the average person, and still, he smiled at her. She seemed busy enough, and so he remained silent thereafter, about to return to his Tetris game until he realized whose door the tattooed girl was going towards.

…Well, this was interesting.

Stood as the brunette started to head for the door, and he brushed nonexistent lint off his pants. “Are you looking for Penelope, too?” he asked, a smile pulling at his lips as he took a step towards her.

Michael was one of the closest people to Penny; she had gone to him in a panic a couple months ago, and a little over a month ago he had gotten information out of her as to why she had been so distressed, and about a new person in his little sister’s life.

Even if he no longer attended Hammel, Michael was smart enough to know that not just anyone went to visit Penelope.

“I’m Michael, Penelope’s older brother.” He immediately offered a hand.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy didn't falter when he asked if she was looking for Penny. That much had been obvious, for one. And she wouldn't have been herself if she'd faltered over such a simple question. "Yeah." She replied, because it was impossible to deny. At least she sounded nonchalant.

And she turned back around when she realised he was moving towards her. That was strange; did she look like she wanted to talk?

Lucy raised her eyebrows when he introduced himself, and she glanced down at his hand a moment later. Shit. But no. Nope. She wasn't about to panic or worry over something like this. This guy didn't even know her. "Okay." She said, but she didn't reach out to take his hand.

He wasn't the Blaise she was interested in touching. "I'm Lucy. Serrano."

[Michael Blaise]

Michael tried not to frown as he pulled his hand back; evidently this girl wasn't much for them. He slid his hands into his pocket instead, is interest sparked in this girl. There was no way this would be--

Lucy. Serrano.

His eyes widened slightly when she spoke, and he couldn't stop the amused grin from pulling at his lips. The older Blaise let out a light laugh. He was not expecting this. Michael had always pictured his sister's first interest to be...not like this tattooed girl standing in front of him. The remote viewer brought his hand up, running it through his hair as he let out an airy laugh. “Wow. Just-- You're Lucy.”

Honestly, he had assumed that Lucy was aware that he knew of the situation between Penny and her. And by knowing, it meant that Michael was still fairly in the dark. He only knew that someone had caught his impossible sister's attention, but that alone was a feat in his books. “It's a pleasure to finally meet you.” He was still surprised by the news. And here he thought he had his sister figured out, he learns this.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The look on his face said it all. Lucy took in every detail as it was offered to her; the way his eyes went a little wide, the grin on his mouth. It was all characteristics of someone who already knew her without actually knowing her.

What he said made it no better. No better than the laugh he breathed before it. This was just... To Lucy, her initial thought was that it was more than just ironic. Her mind went straight to the way Penny had come at her in the art room. And she was so pissed about the fact that Lucy had told someone. She suppressed the initial grin she wanted to wear.

Because at the same time, this was a big deal.

"Yeah, okay." Lucy replied, adamantly sure that she actually wasn't a pleasure to meet at all. She wasn't about to ask what he knew of her or anything of the like, so she didn't even know what to say. The ink manipulator ran her hand over her heavily tattooed arm, fingers raking through the lion's mane idly, as it had chosen to stare intently at this proposed stranger before her.

And she wasn't sure how she felt about that. "I should go." Lucy started, because she sure as hell wasn't going to stand around and wait for her while he was here.

[Michael Blaise]

After a few moments, Michael regained his composure. This was definitely a subject to be brought up with is younger sister; he'd have to wait for the perfect moment to bring it up, one where Penelope wouldn't be able to escape. Still, he kept a mildly amused expression on his face. This was too good not to.

His eyes followed her hand, watching as the girl's tattoos actually moved. Woah. Now that was cool. He focused on the ink for a few moments before bringing his gaze back up to her. The desire to question her was overwhelming. How anyone could attract Penelope's attention was beyond him; part of him always wondered if Penny was even interested in having any sort of relationship.

But before he could ask her, the brunette was already announcing that she was leaving. “Hey! Wait!” Michael held up his hand in protest, “Why don't you wait for me?” He offered a more genuine smile, "It'll be a nice birthday surprise if we're both here, right?"

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy became acutely aware that his eyes had landed on her ink as it started to move. The simple act she worked was doing wonders to suppress the potential ill feelings she could carry from all this. She wasn't the person who met family members, accidentally or not. It just didn't happen. As amusing as it was, it was also a little daunting. Because it mattered.

Just when she turned to leave, he was calling out to her, and she was glancing back at him again. Really, waiting was a bad idea. She went to shake her head at the offer, but then he decided to continue. And she looked surprised.

"Wait-" Lucy started, because there was no way he really just said what she was pretty sure he said; "What?"

[Michael Blaise]

It was clear Lucy was intent on leaving him to wait alone, and was about to leave it be. There was little point chasing after someone who didn't want to stay, even if she had come to look for the same person he was waiting for.

Yet the surprised look on her face caused him to raise his eyebrows. “Oh,” he paused, before shaking his head. Of course Penelope didn't tell the poor girl. His sister went out of her way to not celebrate her birthday, so why would she share the information? Oh well. Too late to cover it now, not that Michael would even if he had known. “Yeah, it's her birthday today.” he started, letting out another laugh.

This was ridiculous.

“But-- Don't worry. It's normal for her to lock herself up somewhere for it; you probably know she's not one for parties.” he said carefully, not wanting to cause something between the two. This was his sister's first relationship (even if the younger Blaise had insisted they weren't girlfriends), and he didn't want to put a bump in it because his sister was an idiot about certain social customs.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Oh wasn't really an answer. It wasn't the answer Lucy was looking for. It wasn't really helpful. It made it sound like this was something she was supposed to know. Birthdays were strange, to say the least.

It didn't surprise Lucy to know Penny didn't talk to people about it - that sounded like her. But it did surprise her to know it was today. She lowered her eyebrows, her gaze dropping briefly to the floor as if she was intent on searching for something.

"Nah, not worried." Lucy replied, finally glancing back at him again. And after a spare moment of lingering around the subject, she finally turned completely and moved for the door.

[Michael Blaise]

Michael watched as Lucy looked down at the floor, his own eyes never leaving her face. He was studying it. Her. Even if he was happy that Penelope was in some sort of relationship-type thing, he couldn't help but to feel a little protective over her. After all, he had spent most his childhood protecting the younger Blaise. He was curious, to say the least.

He caught her gaze, trying to find anything in those dark eyes, but she quickly had turned away, heading for the door again. “Wait, Lucy!” Oh come on. She couldn't just bail on him like that. “Do you know where she is? We can look for her.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

As it stood, Lucy was usually acutely aware when people were watching her. And this was no exception, but the fact was something of a second objective for her. She understood the notion of staring. She stared a lot. But this was incredibly different.

This time when he called out to her, she didn't stop moving.

"Nope." She lied. In truth, she had an idea of where she would likely be if she wasn't here. "Text her."

The suggestion was immediately followed with something of a snarky chuckle - as if she was ever really attentive when it came to her phone. She pressed her hand to the handle and dragged it open, taking effective steps to leave the room.

[Michael Blaise]

Lucy certainly was keen on leaving, the fact putting a frown on his face. He wasn't about to go and physically stop her, mostly because he thought doing so would be rude and that she had the capacity to beat him up.

Michael rolled his eyes at the suggestion, knowing well enough how little his sister used his phone, even if he did text her quite often. Still, the way Lucy laughed caused him to raise his eyebrows, allowing a grin to pull at his lips. Apparently she knew, too.

“Thanks, I'll try that.” he offered, light sarcasm lining his tone. He put his hands in his pockets as she walked out the door, making no effort to stop her this time. There was little he could do about it. “I'll see you around, Lucy Serrano.” he called out before the door closed.

After a moment alone again, Michael let out another laugh and sat back on the couch to play Tetris.