Caught off Guard (Penelope Blaise)

[Alice Halifax]

Alice was in the art department, painting, which helped her clear her head. Her art classes were taking off in full swing and some of the assignments where pushing her to her limit. Not that she found them hard, just taxing. She had a paper to write about the life and struggles of Vincent Van Gogh and how his struggles influenced his painting. Alice had reached a block in her work at the moment and the only way she knew how to break through that block was to paint. Her mind needed a break, needed something else to focus on. Now, when Alice painted, it wasn't the usual sort one might expect, what with the silence and meticulous strokes of a brush. No, Alice threw her entire self into her work. The large canvas before her was covered in all sorts of colors with no particular method to the madness upon it. Alice herself was covered in paint. Her hands were covered in several different colors and all across her body was splattered drops and smears of paint. Of course, Alice dressed a bit differently when she worked. Gone was the fine dresses and pretty hair style, and in its place was a more grounded person. She was dressed in an old pair of coveralls and an old white tee shirt, both covered in old paint smears and smudges indicating this was her usual attire when she painted or sculpted. Alice's hair was pulled back in a tight bun and she hadn't bothered with her usual make-up. Heck, Alice was even barefoot as she didn't want to ruin any of her shoes.

Alice had been painting for several hours now and was satisfied with her work and the fact her mind was now ready to move onto working on her paper. She stepped back from the now paint covered canvas, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead, smearing a dark red smudge fully across the top part of her face. She didn't care really, just as long as she didn't get caught out on the grounds in such a disorganized shape. She grabbed a pair of sandals by the door of the room and put them on carefully. Sure, they were old but she still didn't want to ruin them with paint. A vain effort considering they had paint on them anyway from the paint smeared on her feet. Alice really did put every bit of herself into her work.

She left the art room and was quickly making haste back toward her dorm room where she could get a shower and put herself back together. She moved so fast in fact, that she failed to see the young woman emerging from one of the other classrooms and collided with her head on. Not hard enough to knock either of them down, but enough to cause Alice to stumble backwards a little. "I'm so sorry," Alice said, the words fumbling out of her mouth. She was clearly out of her comfort zone here, after all, someone was actually going to see her in such a piss poor shape.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Despite how the University of Vermont was…not Cambridge, Penelope was impressed by the school. Vermont was the second-least populated state in the entirety of America, but the university itself was quite large. The history built up in its walls was impressive, and Penelope could admit that she was glad that this university was so close to Hammel. To her.

Although UVM was only doing summer classes at the time, Penelope had to go to the school to determine her first semester schedule and make file paperwork for enrollment. Penelope was able to do so with relative ease. It was a simple process when broken down, really, and the Brit had already known the classes she intended to take.

She had time before the next bus to Pilot Ridge came around, so with everything she had to do already done, the psychometrist took it upon herself to have a bit of a wander. It was rare for Penny to ever wander around, normally only taking the most direct route between point A and B, but it was seemingly the best way to explore the grounds of this massive school and a good way to kill time.

The art department was on the same street as the English department, and so Penelope had gone there first. She hadn’t been looking for anything in particular. Her dark eyes taking in everything, but just as easily letting it go without a second thought.

However, her attention shifted as she felt a body suddenly ram into her. The Brit stumbled to the side, but managed to keep her balance despite how hard she was run into. She looked down, taking quite notice of the blotch of green paint that had gotten on her dress from the impact. Her lips pressed into a hardened line, eyes narrowing slightly at the sight. It’d likely stain. It wasn't the first time she had gotten paint on her, however. She brought her hands to her dress, pressing out the nonexistent wrinkles before looking up at the blonde. More paint. Penny remained expressionless, unable to keep herself from thinking of a certain paint-covered Australian. How she looked with paint splattered clothes. Lucy wore it well. She always had.

“Pardon.” Although the singular word sounded polite on its own, the tone Penny had taken was quite harsh. Passive aggressive.

[Alice Halifax]

This was the very sort of moment Alice wanted to avoid in her current state. She was always so well put together and always made sure she was the one on top of the moment. However, when she painted or sculpted, Alice was more relaxed and true to what and who she really was. She was a walking testament to chaos, to the destruction of order. This was the true reality of Alice Halifax, a person who was hell bent on tearing apart the world before her and remaking it in her image. Art allowed her to achieve this goal on a minor satisfactory level, but it was a private part of her and not open for discussion or judgement. This being said, Alice was totally off guard and certainly unprepared for someone such as Penelope.

Alice stared at the green blob of paint she had left behind on the young woman and her face went red, a feat not easily achieved. "I'm so sorry," she said nervously, another side not usually seen in Alice. "I'm not usually this clumsy," she added, pushing her hand down the front of the coveralls she wore, trying to remove what paint from her hands that she could. Surely she looked like some silly cowering version of the woman she usually put forth in meeting someone for the first time. In the back of Alice's mind, she could hear her mother's ever proper and slow voice chastising her for not having control of this situation. Alice closed her eyes and took a breath before opening them again to look Penelope over properly this time. Penelope looked to be somewhat judging Alice with those odd looking eyes of hers. This certainly didn't sit well with Alice as she was usually the one judging. The tone in Penelope's voice wasn't helping matters either, even if the words she spoke were oh so few.

The idea of giving Penelope a slight hypnotic nudge to just slide by this moment and forget Alice altogether crossed Alice's mind, but as Catherine had pointed out in a earlier discussion, Alice was relying too much on her ability. Alice realized her dear friend was right to point this fact out and so, Alice fought her desire to use her ability and focused on trying to get herself together and fall back on her learned social skill set. That wasn't going to be easy considering Penelope had the upper hand in this conversation at the moment. "I'm really sorry about your dress. You can send me the bill for getting it cleaned.....or rather the bill for a new dress judging by the look of the mess," Alice said with a grimace realizing just how ridiculous she looked at the moment.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Because Penelope had never met this woman before, she hadn’t the slightest idea that she was meeting her in what wasn’t considered her normal state of being. The Brit assumed she was simply another art student. After all, she was in the art department and covered in paint.

Penelope did, however, notice the blonde’s nervous behavior. It was evident in her tone and composure, but the psychometrist didn’t dwell on the fact. Her dark eyes followed the woman’s hands as they moved down the coveralls, smudging more paint on them; if that were even possible at that point.

“It’s fine.” She stated flatly. Emotionless. It did surprise her to hear the stranger offer to pay to either clean or pay for a new dress, but Penelope dismissed the idea. A certain ink manipulator would surely be able to pull the paint from the fabric, and even so, Penelope wouldn’t have accepted the offer anyway. She’d sooner throw out the dress and deal with the loss. It was easier that way, and it meant Penelope could just go on her way.

Which is exactly what she attempted next. “There’s no need, but thank you.” She explained briefly. Believing that she had ended the conversation, she began to walk away again.

[Alice Halifax]

As much as Alice wanted to quickly get back to her dorm, she couldn't let this embarrassment be her first impression. She might not ever see this young woman again but on the other hand she might. Who knew, maybe this woman was connected with someone Alice needed or had a use for? Such a bad impression like this might ruin future plans. Call it over worrying, but in Alice's convoluted mind it all made sense. So, even in this horrid state of appearance, Alice had to set this right. So with a heavy sigh, Alice turned about and followed after the girl. She really had no idea of what she was going to say or do, which was a first for Alice considering she was so meticulous in just about everything she did. It was a rarity to be out of her comfort zone.

"Wait, I insist on fixing this. I ran into you and its only right that I do something to apologize for that accident," Alice said catching up to Penelope. Alice really had no idea of what to say or even how to go about getting this girl to listen to her, other than using her ability on her. Alice's mind was too jumbled right now to even properly focus herself to use her meta ability right now anyway, but something had to be done. "I'm usually not so clumsy, I promise. At least for the sake of my pride let me fix all this, please," Alice said, probably making a bigger idiot out of herself than she already had. Thank goodness her mother wasn't here to see her like this. she would have lectured Alice for hours on how a lady shouldn't have been dressed like she was to begin with and that it was about time she stopped all that painting nonsense and concentrated on something more elegant. God, how Alice despised her mother.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope had dismissed the woman in her mind, and as she walked away, the Brit was unaware that she was being followed. In her mind, the conversation was over.

So when the blonde spoke again, Penelope raised her eyebrows coming to a halt. She pressed her lips into a hardened line, her annoyance growing. It one thing to spill paint on her, another entirely to follow her when she clearly didn’t wish for it.

It seemed sweet, almost, that she insisted on fixing for it, but Penelope already had a solution. One that was cost free and would remove paint better than any cleaner would. Still, Penelope tried to hear the woman out, face remaining neutral as she stared at her in mild curiosity.

However, the Brit didn’t care at all about the blonde’s pride. It seemed like a silly excuse to try and fix for a mistake. “You did do something to apologize.” She explained shortly, “You apologized. That’s enough.” This time, she didn’t move to try and leave again, wanting to insure that the paint covered woman wouldn’t follow her. Again.

[Alice Halifax]

Alice wasn't used to people brushing her aside. Penelope seemed to care less about Alice or the action which had transpired between them. The only emotion she seemed to project was annoyance and that was only because Alice wouldn't let the moment go. Alice was used to commanding attention, whether it be positive or negative. She was the performer in the spotlight everywhere she went. Granted, Alice was out of her comfort zone and no where near the level of perfection she usually projected, but she still felt that something about her should merit some level of attention from Penelope. It was all very frustration for little miss perfect.

Biting at her bottom lip in silent thought, Alice tried to make sense of the young woman before her. Penelope was exceptionally well composed and seemed to have her emotions under lock and key. Alice admired the formal lady like appearance of Penelope and wondered for a moment if this was how others saw herself. If Alice could feel intimidated, then she would have felt it now. However, Alice had no fear of others in social settings. Sure she was off balance so to speak, but it wouldn't take long for her to find her footing once again. Penelope was a stumbling block on Alice's path to finding composure. Something about the young British woman made Alice feel......off.

"I wish we had met in a different setting," Alice said, trying to put herself back together, "You're an odd bird, and I like that," she said with that devious little smile of hers. Penelope had managed to put herself on Alice's radar. Whether that was a good thing or bad would remain to be seen. Alice had this unhealthy habit of fixating on people who managed to peak her curiosity. Sometimes this worked out to everyone's advantage, but more often than not, this obsession usually ended in a nightmare.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope still offered nothing in the means of an actual expression; the woman was assuming right, she was remarkably composed in these matters. Something she had been most of her life. Really, it wasn’t as hard as people made it out to be, at least not for someone who didn’t care.

What was offered next was, if anything, confusing. “Well, we didn’t.” She pointed out what seemed to be the obvious. Penelope wasn’t sure why this woman wished that, but she was sure she wouldn’t have been impressed with by her either other way. It took much more than a smile to capture her attention. It barely registered in her mind at all.

To be called odd wasn’t strange, for Penelope was highly aware to how dissimilar she was to the average person, especially those of her age. “I don’t particularly care what you like.” She added honestly. By this point, she had determined the girl was trying to start some type of conversation with her, which the Brit had no intention on adding to, so she gave a polite nod – a second dismissal – before starting to walk off again.