Logic That You Hold [Lucy]

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

“I have to study for at least an hour tonight.” Penny stressed, trying her best to insure that Lucy understood she couldn't put off studying, “We have a U.S. Government quiz tomorrow.” Honestly, the Brit was prepared for the test, but that did not diminish her need to review the materials the night before. Pulling her keys from her bag, Penny unlocked her dormitory door before ushering her Australian counterpart inside.

She watched as Lucy made her way over to the bed, a smile pulling at her lips as the ink manipulator settled on it. Lucy Serrano. What a distraction. Penny closed the door behind her, walking to her desk as she started to sort through her mail.

Most of the mail she received was junk, but one particular envelope caught her attention. Catching sight of the sender, Penny raised her eyebrows in surprise. Her thumb ran over the international stamp before starting to open it.

As she unfolded the letter, Penny naturally started to gravitate towards her counterpart. She held the paper in one hand while the other reached out, tucking a few strands of hair behind Lucy's ear. Her thumb gently trailed over the ink manipulator's cheekbone as she quickly glanced at her counterpart before focusing on the hard stock paper in her hands.

However, her thumb faltered in its movement once she began to read, her expression shifting. Her eyebrows twitched together briefly, lips pursing as she continued to read. Moments later, she finally looked up, giving Lucy something of a blank expression. “I was accepted,” she started, trying to catch Lucy's gaze, “into Cambridge.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"Mmhmm." Was the simple reply Lucy gave. It wasn't as if she didn't know the psychometrist wanted to study; especially given that there was a test tomorror or whenever. When Penny moved towards her desk, Lucy chose to leave her be, sitting on her bed and simply waiting.

She kept to herself while Penny sorted out whatever she needed to, glancing around the room as nothing in particular could flag her interest. This room was cold. Somewhat distant. But it was hers, so she didn't mind those facts. She managed to find comfort in her counterpart, not her counterpart's room.

Lucy glanced up when Penny came towards her, instinctively closing her eyes and leaning into the touch before it faltered. She faltered. Her eyes broke open again and she stared at the girl in front of her. Her expression was troublesome to say the least, but Lucy didn't speak until spoken to.

"Is that far?" She asked, shrugging her shoulders lightly. The geographical placement of universities was hardly going to be her strong suit.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny's eyebrows twitched together in confusion, and she opened her mouth to speak. She hesitated, however, as she couldn't figure out if her Australian counterpart was asking a serious question. Even if Lucy wasn't interested in universities and where they were, it was Cambridge, one of the most well known schools in the world.

Yet, the way she shrugged her shoulders gave Penelope the impression that she wasn't joking. She allowed her thumb to continue the movement it had faltered in, and she took in a breath. “It's-- Yes.” She stated with a nod.

The Brit pursed her lips, breaking the vital eye contact as she opted to look at the paper in her hands. Congratulations, it said. The word stuck out. It made her chest tighten in a way she very much did not like. It was supposed to be a good thing, wasn't it?

Finally, her dark eyes moved back to Lucy as she set the paper down on her bedside table. “It's in England.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

All Lucy did was raise her eyebrows at the notion that it was far away. Suddenly she felt strangely aware of her movements in a different way; the brush of her thumb lost its comforting notion.

When she looked away, the feeling multiplied. She hooked her fingers around the edge of the bed, because she felt the overbearing need to push her British counterpart's hand away, and she didn't want to.

"Oh." Lucy dropped the sound - and with it came the imperative realisation. "Well-" She started, but quickly faltered. Her hands added pressure to the bed, but it wasn't enough. The Australian stood up, moving to breeze past her. In the same notion, she knew she didn't want to leave either.

Lucy glanced at the door before turning back to look at her. It would have been an easy tactic, but it wasn't hers. "This is what you-" No, it didn't feel right either. "Fuck. So?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

The way Lucy responded, the singular sound she offered, visibly irked Penelope. She took in a deep breath before pressing her lips into a hard line. She listened as Lucy faltered; it was rare to hear the Australian do so, and only added to the weight this conversation was sure to hold. Neither of them knew how to handle this.

Penny felt herself tense as Lucy stood, brushing past her. Instinctively, she straightened her back, bringing her hand back to her side as she turned to face her counterpart. The distance between them was overbearing. Painful. The psychometrist wanted to reach out, to somehow comfort Lucy and herself through a means of physical contact, but doing so would have felt jarring. It already had just moments before. Contact was broken, and Penny couldn't find the means to breach it.

“I--” The Brit closed her eyes, shaking her head. Every sentence she formed in her head didn't sound right. “I never thought I'd be accepted.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy stared back at her, unaware that in that moment she was doing so. She lacked her usual warmth; devoid of the comfort her counterpart usually provided with such ease. The disconnect felt incredibly strange. Unnatural.

The lion she wore studied Penny carefully. The tiger threatened with a silenced snarl.

"Okay." Lucy said, acknowledging at the very least that she heard her. Still, she fought the urge to speak freely. It wasn't worth the fight.

It wasn't. They weren't-

"So you're fucking off, yeah?" Lucy asked, her tone bitter. Her expression, angered; "Good fucking luck to you, Blaise."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Looking back on Lucy was difficult. Almost impossible. She was cold. Distant. The Brit felt the urge to look away. To shift her attention elsewhere, anywhere except on the way she was staring back at her. Still, she kept the eye contact. It felt necessary.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but Lucy managed to get there first. The singular word she offered did little to ease the growing anxiety Penny felt bubble in her chest.

...And then there was the bitter tone held in her counterpart's voice.

Penny's eyebrows shot upward in surprise. The use of language forcing her lips to press together in a hard line before she spoke; “Did I say I was?” She tilted her head to the side, feeling as if she was physically hit by the drop of her last name. It caused the Brit to automatically get defensive; she crossed her arms over her chest, eyes no longer wavering as she focused on the anger in the Australian. “Don't assume things, Serrano.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy resisted the urge to bite back again, even if Penny had a point. She didn't say she was, but why else would she talk about it the way she was? It felt bitter. It felt distant. It felt like major steps backwards had been taken.

Lucy crossed her arms the moment after Penny did. She took enough steps backwards to rest against the door, so there was no way she could even consider leaving. Still, she raised her eyebrows, pressing her lips into a hardened line. She should stop. She k ew she should. But she couldn't. Not now.

"Do you want to go?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

The tension between them was rising significantly. Lucy, who Penny only minutes before was touching in such an affectionate way, now felt miles away.

Her heart jumped as she realized Lucy was stepping backwards. Further away. For a moment, the Brit was sure she was leaving, and the action irritated Penny greatly. She opened her mouth to speak, to tell her that she better not leave, but as she realized the Australian was only doing so to rest her head against the door, she closed her mouth again. It did little to quell her growing anger, however. Her demeanor fueled Penny's.

“I had wanted to go to Cambridge since I was eight.” She replied with a shake of her head. However, her eyebrows furrowed as she took in another breath. That was before. There wasn't anything stopping her before. She clenched her jaw, fingers digging into her own arm. “This is huge.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy felt her back straighten against the door, tension evident. She felt her jaw lock, and her fingers trailed across the lion, brushing through its mane periodically. But it did nothing to quell such intensity; the defensive feeling that fueled them, too.

She listened to the answer given, and instantly her eyebrows lowered. "Yeah, I get that," She replied. Of course she could see it was a big deal. But she rolled her eyes, dropping her gaze to the floor; "Now."

But she wasn't finished; "But that wasn't an answer."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Apparently Lucy didn't see how big this was, as the Australian wanted an answer immediately. Penny remained tense, fingers twitching against her arm as she resisted the urge to move. To pace, as she normally did when thinking. The weight of the situation kept her immobile.

When the ink manipulator's gaze went to the floor, Penny allowed herself to look downward as well, catching sight of the way Lucy's fingers ran across the lion's mane. The way it stared at her.

“I... don't know.” Penny said finally, her tone losing a bit of her harshness. This was unexpected. Sudden. She needed time to think. Time that she wasn't being allowed to have. She hated the answer she gave. She hated not knowing, but she couldn't give a definitive answer. “I don't know, okay?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy tried her best to process the information given to her. What it all meant. How it fit together. She could understand that something was missing, but Penny wasn't giving the answers to help her sort it out. She rarely ever did.

Dropping her arms, Lucy involuntarily ran her hand across her heavily tattooed arm, as if the ink beneath her skin was aching.

Because it was.

"You know. You have to know!" Lucy interjected. She felt stuck - stagnent against the door. Her hands twitched at her sides as she glanced across her counterpart's form. It would have been so easy.

She slowly released a breath - the kind she didn't know she was holding. Anything to try and calm herself down. "Why the fuck wouldn't you tell me about this?" Lucy asked, losing her elevated tone of voice. But she still carried clear resentment.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

At Lucy's interjection, Penny finally moved, taking a step away from the Australian, feeling as if her voice physically pushed her backwards. Her eyes snapped back up to Lucy's face, widening as she told the Brit that she had to know.

“How can I?” She snapped back, “I just found out!”

“I told you, I didn't think I'd be accepted.” Penny uncrossed her arms, running a hand through her hair in frustration. “I filled out the application before--” she gestured to the large space between them, unable to find the words to describe whatever it was they had, “--this!”

The psychometrist shook her head, forcing herself to let out a breath in an attempt to level her breathing. It did little to help. “And don't you go snapping at me for not telling you information, Serrano.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy felt her jaw tighten. Being misunderstood happened often, but it'd been a while since something like this had happened. It infuriated her further.

Moreso when she gestured between them. Lucy pressed her palm to the Siberian tiger on instinct - by now she knew it was going to react to her anger before anything else.

But when things were switched, Lucy pushed off the wall, though she took no real steps forward. Still, a minute breach was still a breach. "What?" She asked, stressing the word with clear tension. But it wasn't enough. The Australian took a purposeful set ot steps forward, but still stopped short. "What the bloody hell's your problem?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

As much as she wanted to, Penny couldn't reciprocate the breach in distance. She stood her ground, however, drawing her hand back to herself as she let out an angered sigh at the question. “Are you serious?” she snapped immediately. Wasn't it obvious?

“You're angry because I didn't tell you about this,” she crossed her arms again. “But you still haven't told me about what happened with Dominique that night.” Penny's jaw tightened, eyes narrowing on the ink manipulator. “Or with Sawyer.” Another shaking breath. “Or Evony.”