Fire at Your Fingertips

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Note: Set hours after In and Out of Mind and Still and Stolen

Lucy didn't expect her night to go as it had. She fully thought she'd end up waiting for Penny. It wasn't as if she wasn't an expert at killing time, either. But the pressure was too much - the thoughts leaving her too fragile to deal with the aspect of her inevitable failure alone. And so she sought the company of someone juts as lost as herself. The only one who'd really understand her dilemma.

Dom had been perfect. He listened. She listened. He asked her about shit and she answered. He also got drunk. And so did she.

It made it all easier.

The first thing Lucy did was go back to her dorm, but she had issues there. With no idea what the time was, she decided to head towards her counterpart's room instead. And when she got there, she found her door locked. She knocked, albeit not as coherently as she usually would, but she got no answer. She wasn't here. She hadn't been there. Where the fuck was she?

Deciding it was smarter to settle in, the intoxicated ink manipulator found a spot on the couch and fell down there for however long she needed to. Until that common room door opened and the face of her Brit finally appeared.

"Penny!" The Australian called, though she didn't move. She simply raised both arms from her comfortable position on the common room couch. She decided calling to her was easier than trying to prop herself up, "I fucking locked my fucking door. And I don't have keys. I don't reckon I've even had keys for like, six months." Pause. "Six months?"

Another pause. She shook her head. Why did it even matter how long it'd been like that? "I never lock my door. I dunno why I did." She added in, pressing a hand into the couch and pushing herself up into a sitting position. There, she gave her counterpart something of a lazy grin.

"Hey," She started quickly, "How was your thing?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Dinner was everything Penelope had expected it to be; horrible. The passive aggressive nature within the Blaise family came out in full force as the youngest member announced that she wasn’t attending Cambridge. Even more so when she stated it was because she was staying in Vermont.

Topics shifted, and eventually the inevitable had come up. Lucy Serrano. She never gave a straightforward answer. Not in a setting like that where stiffness was already at an all-time high between herself and her mother.

Then again, they already knew. They already saw. She couldn’t deny that much.

She left the moment she had the opportunity to do so. Penny had managed to get back within a few hours, and she wanted nothing more to see the ink manipulator that was waiting for her. But she wasn’t.

Penny twisted her dormitory door open, the space was vacant. Her eyebrows furrowed together in evident confusion, dark eyes scanning the contents of her room for any sign that was there. Her gaze lingered on her bed; the few creases that still existed in the usually perfect blanket. The edge of the bed where she had sat. How her leg bounced idly. Penny didn’t need her ability to recall the way she said she’d be there.

98% Graduated. The green letters lacking the Australian bite they once had, but it was still something she would say.

As she lingered in her own room, the Brit gripped the doorknob tightly, a brief stint of concern causing her to hold her breath. In the next moment, she was closing the door and locking it again.

The next logical place to look was the Australian’s own dormitory, and so Penny walked the familiar path to the co-ed dorms. It wouldn’t have surprised her to discover that her counterpart had become bored and chose to return to her dorm in order to play one of her many violent games. But as she knocked on the door, there was no answer, and as she unlocked it, she found it just as empty as her own dorm.

The initial concern she had felt spread throughout her chest. Her jaw clenched as she wondered where the ink manipulator had disappeared to, after she said she’d be there. Unsure what to do, Penny headed back to her dormitory. Possibly she left a note that was overlooked, or texted the phone that was left in a desk drawer.

So this time, when she opened the common room door, she had not expected to be called out by such a familiar accent. Penny’s eyes widened, catching sight of Lucy’s extended hands. Something was off; the way she rambled; how she sounded. It wasn’t normal.

“As expected.” She stated carefully, taking a few steps as Lucy sat up. She couldn’t help but to glance down at the grin she wore. Even that was different. “What have you been doing?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The look Lucy wore when she saw Penny quickly changed from that slightly different grin to something more genuine. To Lucy, those hours had felt like much, much longer; she could barely stay in the psychometrist's room before she felt the overt need to leave. The careful connotations of her voice were lost on the usually perceptive Australian, who frowned because dinner evidently went badly, even though she knew it would.

"What'd they say about me?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at her own question before quickly putting her hand up and shaking her head, "Nah, I don't wanna know."

That was probably the last thing she actually wanted to hear.

"Went for a wander, cause I couldn't stay in your room." She finally replied, hauling herself up to her feet without so much as a stumble. It was better than dwelling on the subject of her family, but not by much. "Did you just get back? Cause damn, you were gone for ages."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

She watched the curve of her lip pull into a smile from her grin. In turn, it made the Brit’s own lip twitch upward. Because within that time, she had missed the ink manipulator. But the beginnings of her smile quickly faltered when Lucy both posed and retracted her question within a few seconds.

Her eyebrows furrowed together, lips pursing when she wasn’t given the chance to answer. She glanced to her hand, then back to her equally dark eyes when she explained where she had been. As Lucy stood, Penny made the move to again step closer, because despite the Australian’s strange attitude, she missed her desperately.

“I got back a little bit ago. You weren’t here, so I went looking for you.” She explained briefly, irritation lining her tone over the fact. She extended her hand out to the ink manipulator in an attempt to draw her in.

“I have your keys.” She replied. It was a late response, but she held up a singular key from her set. “You never lock your door, but you should have them on hand in case you do.” Thus why Penny had them. There was no point keeping a set of keys inside the dormitory if it was already locked. It didn’t make sense.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Listening to the explanation given, Lucy nodded her head a few times. She caught the irritation in her tone and glanced at her curiously, but decided not to question it. Not yet, anyway. Why was she even annoyed? Dinner must have really pissed her off. "I went looking for you." She reasoned, reaching out towards her hand and taking hold of it. She let the contact draw her in.

"You have it!" Lucy shot out, her smile broadening as she saw the barely familiar set held in front of her. Reaching out with her free hand, she tapped it once. "I like that you have it. You keep it. If I ever get stuck I'll come get you." Though really, when wasn't she with Penny, aside from moments like these?

Finally, she shifted her gaze from the key back towards the dark eyes of her counterpart. She breathed a quick sigh, already caught in the way she looked at her; "You're so smart."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy’s counter only confused the Brit further. Why would the Australian go looking for her when she stated she’d be in a certain place? It hadn’t made sense. The only place to look would be the very place Penny had gone first.

“Okay.” Penny nodded, eyebrows raised at Lucy’s evident excitement about her keys. Her free hand shifted the keys in her hand before lightly setting them on the table. “What’s wrong?” She asked, deciding to take the direct approach now that she was sure she couldn’t figure out just why her counterpart was acting so abnormally.

With the keys no longer in her hands, the Brit brought a hand to Lucy’s hair, pushing it back slightly. “You’re acting strange.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

There was a rush of relief that came along with knowing where her keys were. Or that they had a proper home. Lucy reasoned that she really shouldn't have them anyway. She never took them with her. Always left them on her desk or in the drawer or something like that. So of course, she never noticed when they disappeared. She never locked her door anyway.

When she asked what was wrong, the Australian crinkled her nose and pursed her lips. Why did something have to be wrong? She seemed visibly cross at the question.

Until Penny reached out towards her, and all the irritation in her features dissipated as quickly as she wore it. "I missed you." The ink manipulator replied easily. The words were so easy now. "That's not wrong. Or strange. You knew I missed you. Or you knew I was gonna." For added measure, Lucy squeezed her hand, "Unless you didn't miss me. Which..." She paused the thought as she tried to pull her hand away, "Would be okay, too."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy’s reaction to her question wasn’t lost on the psychometrist. The way she looked almost annoyed by it. But something was wrong. Different. Penny had no idea how to handle it.

As Lucy very openly admitted to missing her, the Brit’s expression shifted. The smile finally returned to her lips.

“I did miss you.” Penny stepped closer, tightening her fingers around Lucy’s briefly in an attempt to keep her hand. She searched the Australian’s expression for any indication why she was behaving in such a way. “Don’t think that I didn’t.”

Within the proximity that she was in with Lucy, the Brit suddenly crinkled her nose. It was barely there, but she caught the light smell. “Lucy,” She backed up slightly, only giving enough distance to look at the Australian, eyebrows rising. “Have you been drinking?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The fact that Penny was smiling forced Lucy to take a quick breath. Hearing that she really did miss the ink manipulator was quite possibly the most important thing to hear in that moment. She didn't want to think that Penny didn't care. And really, she didn't. But her mind moved in infrequent, untracked patterns.

She didn't let her hand go. She let the psychometrist hold on.

But the way she crinkled her nose caught Lucy's attention more than the sweetened words she offered. She didn't like the look she was given, but she could handle the question just fine.

"Yes." She replied with a nod, because a direct question deserved a direct answer. "With Dom."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

There it was; a definitive answer. The corner of her lips pulled downward, forming something of a small frown, eyebrows briefly twitching together.

With Dom.

The Brit’s eyes widened slightly, the tension rising up her spine. “With Dom?” She repeated, twisting it into a question. Because for some reason it was questionable. Penny could readily recall the book he gave her – the memory associated with it. The way she felt in that moment. Her relationship with the French boy was never quite made clear; far from it. She still never fully understood why Lucy left to get him that night.

Her grip on the ink manipulator faltered as she sucked in a quick breath. “Why?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Again, Lucy nodded, and her little smile never faltered. The tension her counterpart wore was completely lost on her. "On this little mountain... Hill-thing in the courtyard. Just for a bit." Alright, it was more than a bit.

But the question of why caused her to shrug her shoulders. "You weren't around, and I tried waiting but it just got way too..." A pause as she contemplated her words. But taking a moment to contemplate dragged her off on a tangent. "He had this hardcore French whiskey. Was it French?" She crinkled her nose at the question, raising her hand out of Penny's without a thought as she waved it idly, "It's always French. He's wicked French." Really, just looking at him said that much.

"We're in a club." Lucy added, raising her eyebrows at the fact. "You graduated, so you're not invited."

And with that, she stepped past her counterpart towards her dorm room door. There, Lucy leaned against it with her forehead pressed to it, tapping her fingernails against it idly as she waited for it to be opened.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

She forced in a breath as she felt Lucy’s fingers slip from her own. “I know he’s French.” Penny, despite not caring pay attention to those she didn’t care about, knew of the Chevalier twins. It was impossible not to when attending Hammel. She knew of them before she knew of Lucy’s relationship with Dominique; they stood out, and they were very clearly French. There wasn’t need to point it out, yet Lucy seemed to need to.

Penny’s lips pressed into a hard line at mention of a club and her fingers twitched as Lucy casually walked away. “Is it just the two of you?” She asked, trying and failing to keep the bitterness from her tone. The idea was unsettling; more so was the that of Penny leaving for New York. She hadn’t been around for a few hours – despite it feeling much longer than it – she wouldn’t see Lucy for weeks then.

Would she find him like she had tonight?

She let out a light sigh, walking toward her counterpart and door. Lightly, Penny placed a hand on the small of Lucy’s back, her free hand moving to unlock the door. “Why did you do this to yourself?” She asked, twisting the handle and opening the door.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"Yeah, just us." Lucy replied factually. She was unaware of just how badly that information went across, because as she took a breath she was quick to continue, "Unless you know any other twenty-something students."

Of course she didn't. She was Penelope Blaise, and she knew so few.

Lucy closed her eyes, taking in the cool connotations of the door against her forehead. The moment she felt a familiar hand at her back she smiled uncontrollably. She liked contact with Penny, but it was always that much more enthralling when she started it. Lucy still mused over the question offered, drawing back with a minor falter in her step as the door opened. Why did she do this? Of course Penny didn't get it. How could she?

"You weren't here." Lucy replied, brushing past her to step into her room. She made her way towards the Brit's desk, where she chose to haul herself up to sit, hands pressed in at either side as her boot-clad feet swung back and forth idly. "I really like you, y'know? Like," She paused, contemplating what to say next. Even when inebriated, she couldn't get the words right, "Really, really like you."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope felt the mild jealousy spark up as Lucy confirmed it was just herself and Dominique in their special little club. Why did something seemingly so trivial bother her? Before she could question it further, Lucy continued, and it was only then that she made the connection. They both failed. Twice.

But she failed to understand why Lucy decided to make an alliance over it.

Had Lucy’s face not been hidden by the door, Penny would have likely noticed the smile her counterpart wore. It might have taken the edge off of her growingly bitter attitude. But she missed it.

As Lucy brushed by this time, Penny made no attempt to follow, because she kept walking away. She closed the door behind her, taking a few steps towards the ink manipulator before stopping short by several feet. Lucy’s confession eased away some of the hardened expression she wore, but the Brit was determined not get distracted.

“Is this going to become a habit while I’m away?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy genuinely waited to hear some kind of response to her words of choice on the wall. 98% Graduated. Because it was true. And it was a little bit funny. And there was no swearing. She even raised her eyebrows, her smile broadening with the expectation.

Especially when Penny came closer, but she stopped short. So Lucy slumped her shoulders.

"Dunno, maybe. It was last time you left." The ink manipulator shot out, though she laughed about it immediately afterwards. Penny likely didn't know what happened on New Years Eve; where the Australian drank as a means to soothe the relevant pain she'd placed on her. But all it did was make her miss her even more. "Wait, we're talking about getting sloshed, right? Cause that was a thing before you came along."

To make a point, Lucy pointed towards herself and mouthed the single, coherent word she knew her counterpart would understand; Australian.