Breathing Fire in Your Sleep

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

December 4, 2014

Laundry. What had originally been such an ordinary task had turned into anything but. A mixture of her and her counterpart's clothes in a basket, and the Brit had been sorting through them. Lights, darks, and whites. The amount of clothes shared between the pair offered enough for three perfectly sized loads.

Everything contained memories; anything that the psychometrist could touch cold offer new information. Or, more specifically, old information but new perspective. It was never easy to resist; there was always a perpetual burning within Penelope's fingertips as she touched any object, but smaller, memories were easier to ignore. But a shirt proved too overwhelming to ignore. Buried within the pile of clothes that had been purposefully taken off so the psychometrist didn't have to see what lined the material, it hadn't been taken into consideration after a night away from Hammel. A powerful enough memory made fighting it impossible.

Which was why Penelope walked with determination - anger - back to her own dormitory. The same one she had been avoiding since the move in of their latest roommate. She said she wouldn't go and speak to the Southern girl - at least not that same day. But days had passed since then and Penelope still felt the bitter taste of gasoline on her tongue as she kept away. Only now the strike of a match in the form of renewed, burning anger.

Penelope Blaise was not one to confront, but as protective as the dragon on her dormitory wall, she did not easily forgive those brought negativity on the person closest to her. Combined with her own anger and the anger she felt though the memory, the Brit opened the common room door, making a quick path to her roommates before knocking just a little too hard on it.

[Karalie Heise]

Cause baby I could build a caaastle, out of all the bricks they threw at meee. And every day it's like baaattleee, but every night with us is like a dreeeaam.

Brows were knit low over lovely dark eyes as they stared at the screen.  She'd hit a roadblock writing this damn paper, not sure what else to add and still a half page length away from completion.  She could make some of the sentences more wordy but she hated doing that.  It could be the difference between an A and a high B.

Baby we're the new romantics, come on, come along with me. Heart break is the national anthem, we sing it proudly.. We are too busy dancing, to get knocked off our feeeet, baby we're the new romantics, the best people in life are freeee...

Karalie downsized Word and pulled up her Chrome instead, deciding to take a social media break and search through her instagram.  When all else failed, the best thing to do was just take your mind off of it.  She'd come back to it in a bit with a fresh outlook and hopefully she could finish her paper then.  She had until Friday to finish it anyway, but there were other assignments looming that didn't give her the leisure of procrastinating.  

The sudden knock on her door through her off.  No one knocked on her door and her heart practically seized.  Fear it was her roommates idiot partner coming to screw with her again.  She was not in the mood to fight with that girl again, or be forced to kiss her.  "Who is it?" She called out.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope stood at the door, feeling the heat rising in the palms of her hands as she forced her fingers to stretch from a closed fist. She wasn't a fighter, but somehow making the notion eased away some of the built up anger. Honestly, Penelope had no idea if Karalie was even there, but she waited regardless.

Close enough inspection gave way to the sound of music coming through the door. She was there. Penelope lifted her hand again, only having waited a second but having no patience for waiting, but before her knuckles collided with the hardened surface of the door, she heard the annoying Southern accent cut through.

The Brit considered lying, but her own accent was impossible to mask. It was useless to try and give anything but the truth, but she wondered if she would even open up upon announcement. Teeth clenched as she forced in a breath, considering her options. "Penelope." She offered finally, trying to keep hints of bitterness out of her tone until the door was opened.

Two days later than she wished to confront her roommate, she wasn't about to give up now.

[Karalie Heise]

There were two ways she could answer her roommate.  One, she could simply ask what the hell she wanted, though likely much more politely, or open the door and look the girl in the face.  Karalie wasn't exactly known for her maturity, even if she pretended she was mature.  Answering the door meant coming face to face with the annoying little Brit who probably had some bug up her ass about Karalie not cleaning some common area of the dorm.  She was not, under any circumstances, scrubbing an area she did not personally use and since Penelope and her stupid girlfriend were always hanging around, she stayed in her room almost exclusively, save for the bathroom.  Which she had recently cleaned.  somewhat.  Scrubbing wasn't her specialty, but she'd used a sponge and some spray.

"Can I help you?" She drawled, trying to sound like she might actually care about what Penelope had to say, though she didn't. She didn't even have the decency to go open the door and face her.  Whatever it was, surely it wasn't worth Getting up and opening the door.  Besides, she was comfortable right where she was.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Somehow, Penelope guessed right that the door wouldn't open upon announcing herself. The Brit and her roommate hadn't gotten along even before this point; the girl was - in Penelope's opinion - a slob. A quick glance to the common room she rarely visited proved that much. Penelope couldn't invest the time to clean it, and it showed. It made her visibly cringe, but putting hours of work risked running into the Southern girl, and before this moment Penelope had been doing everything in her power to avoid just that.

She could barely call her own dormitory her room anymore; spending every night in hers instead.

"Possibly." Penelope replied through the door, brining a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. Another inhale. Breathing was key to staying calm, but more than her own anger was built up within the psychometrist. Coming out of a memory made it impossible to be in a completely clear mindset, let alone one so powerful.

Fingers twitched as she considered just opening the door herself. This was idiotic. "Just open the door."

[Karalie Heise]

Oh, she was demanding things now, was she? Karalie didn't take well to orders.  Never had, really.  Especially orders from her peers.  Who the hell did Penelope think she was demanding she open her door?  Out of spite alone Karalie would refuse, feeling very pleased with her sudden power over the girl she disliked so much.

"Oh, now tha's no way tuh ask." She called back, Taylor Swift still playing softly from her laptop's speakers.  "Besides, I'm sorta in th'middle of uh paper right now.  Maybe ya'll can come back later." She called back, smirking to herself though she didn't let her smile come through her words as she called back to the other girl.  It was her own way of giving some passive aggressive payback.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

This was growing more and more frustrating. Standing in a hallway wasn't exactly what Penelope had in mind when it came to this confrontation. Never one to put herself in these situations in the first place, she felt stuck. Frustrated, and growingly so. Her hand dropped from the bridge of her nose. She wasn't asking, and she rolled her eyes at the notion that she might be.

But a mixture of emotions both her own and not drove her forward, enough to put a hand on the door handle and twist it. Unlocked, and Penelope stepped through the normal customs and opened it, stepping inside.

There she was, and the sight of her alone stuck another match for the psychometrist. She had successfully avoided her roommate for some time, and now just seeing brought a new round of anger. Still, her voice remained low, as she spoke. Threatening. Penelope Blaise wasn't one to yell at anyone who wasn't her counterpart. "You will never speak to her like that again. Are we clear?"

[Karalie Heise]

The smile was wiped clean off her face when she heard the doorknob jiggle.  Did that girl seriously have the audacity to just let herself into Karalie's room uninvited? Her body tensed and her eyes widened with rage.  No way did that bitch think she could do that!  Then she had the nerve to growl some idiotic threat to her.  What was with these two!? Did they not see that Karalie wanted nothing to do with them? That she was, quite literally, camping out in her room to simply avoid them?!

"Who th'FUCK do ya'll think you are just waltzin' on here like yah own th'damn place!" She snapped, pushing the laptop aside and sliding off her bed, storming closer to the intruder.  It was one thing to come pestering her at her door or even in the common area, but this.. this was out of hand.  "Get yer bitch ass outta my room!" She snapped, not one for composure when feeling threatened on her own turf, completely ignoring the idiotic warning her roommate offered.  Karalie would speak to anyone she pleased in any damn well way she pleased, and no high class little Brit would stop her.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope had only ever entered one dormitory uninvited, and that had been Lucy's on the only other day Penny had known the sword on her forearm to press its hilt into her palm. A drastic measure, and although this was incomparable, it needed immediate attention.

So she didn't know what to expect, and what she received was possibly the furthest possible guess that the Brit could have made. Immediate yelling, and cursing no doubt. The only expression offered was the crinkle of her nose along with pressure at her jaw. Really, was there need for such profanities? It was more of an annoyance than anything else.

Even with the distance crossed between them, Penelope refused to move from the doorframe she stood at. Had Karalie wished to close the door, she'd have to literally push Penelope out of the way first. Instead, she brought her hands together behind her back, forearm pressing against herself to hide the lion that wasn't an inhabitant of her skin, but very much felt like it was within that moment.

"And who do you think you are speaking to someone like that?" She shot back, voice refusing to raise just yet, but the stress remained. The threat of fire still there. "How dare you call her selfish."

[Karalie Heise]

What angered Karalie probably most about this entire sudden altercation was the way Penelope seemed so composed.  She'd just come into her room without permission and she thought that was alright? Karalie had a good mind to shove her out the door, and truth be told she almost did, but violence didn't seem well tolerated.  She wondered if that mattered in cases of trespassing.  

"Call who selfi--"  It suddenly hit her.  Was she really there because of the run in with Lucy? Oh, this was rich.  "Ya'll ain't serious, are yah?" She asked, suddenly laughing at the other girl.  The nerve of some people!  Lucy had to be the MOST selfish person Karalie had ever met, which was saying a lot considering she'd done her rounds on the child beauty pageant circuit, which is full of nasty women and their children only looking out for number one.  

"I'll tell yah what." Her hands came to her hips and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.  "I will gladly never speak to yer bitch girlfriend, or you if yah like, if yah stay th'hell away from me.  She started on me me, yah know.  She put her nasty ass lips on me.  Didja know that?!" The anger was creeping back into her voice. Those two could go get themselves thrown under a bus for all she cared, so long as she never had to deal with either of them again.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

It really seemed that Karalie had no idea why Penelope was there; and that within itself was surprising. As if she wouldn't learn what had happened; as if she wouldn't approach her regardless of the memory that pushed her steps there on that particular day. Was she really that ignorant? Penelope believed it so.

As the southern girl finally made the connection, Penelope's eyebrows rose with a twitch. Just slightly, enough to silently say that, yes, she was serious.

"I do know." She shot back, voice finally starting to rise as she stared down her roommate. "I know every single detail as to what happened, and I know why it happened." She could still feel the burn of a hit that never landed on her own cheek. The urge to wipe her lips on the sleeve her her dress was almost overwhelming. Her jaw clenched uncontrollably. "You will never have to speak to my girlfriend again, because you are going to move out."

[Karalie Heise]

If Penelope knew why it happened, Karalie didn't know why she was at her stupid door!  If Penny had stayed out of the dorm, like she was supposed, and left her alone, like she should have, and not started on her, like a decent human being, none of any of this would have happened in the first place! Was Penelope that delusional that she couldn't see what was so obviously right in front of her? Was she so blinded by her sick, sinful gay lust that she couldn't realize that the good and righteous was, well, right?! 

No, Karalie thought, The Devil's done worked his magic good on this one.

When the Brit told her she was moving out she actually did a little laugh.  Was she seriously telling her what to do? Had it been a different day or said by someone else, she would have leaped at the chance.  She hated living among all these sinners and she hated that no one stopped Lucy from waltzing into the common area whenever she pleased.  Why was Karalie the only person who locked that damn door? It should always be locked!

"Oh, am I?" She challenged, folding her arms with a grin.  "Ya'll makin' th'rules now?" She sniffed and shook her head.  "Ya'll feel threatened by th'presence uh the good Lord in here? Hate bein' reminded that yer sinful ways are disgustin'?"  These girls seriously needed Jesus.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

It was a shot of anger that got the better of her; had she taken another moment to breathe instead of speak, the Brit would have never said the demand. She doubted Karalie would take the offer, if not just out of spite. Stubbornness seemed to thrive in this particular Southern girl.

With it already in the air, however, Penelope refused to waver. She kept her back straight even as her roommate laughed. Yes, she was making the rules. Penelope Blaise always did. She was the boss. Anyone that threatened that was either stupid or ignorant. In this case, both.

Added pressure to her jaw dissipated with a short breath. It hadn't been the first time Karalie had tried to make a shot like that. That Lucy and herself were sinners. Disgusting. Wrong.

"I feel no threat from an imaginary figure or anyone too idiotic to tell fact from fiction." She countered quickly, taking another step forward to insure she wouldn't get pushed out. Even then, she didn't even want to be in the holy space known as Karalie's room, but she had no choice in the matter.

"But you are dealing with someone incredibly clever." There was little narcissism within her tone as she spoke, going on as if listing off facts to the Southern girl. "I might have a look into your sick mind with a single touch of anything in this room and see whatever objectionable memory there is associated with it, but every other ounce of this dormitory will be imprinted with my own." Speaking fast to insure her roommate would not interrupt, Penelope continued. "I will insure you cannot move. Not to prove a point but simply because I can." Another step.

"Every surface you touch you will see it, you will hear it, and you will feel it." Penelope, of all people, knew the repercussions of seeing various memories. How they could alter thoughts and feelings, even make a person question if they were their own. She never thought she'd threaten such after her own experiences, but she never believed she'd find someone so ignorant, either. "I can move a mountain; do not believe you have the capacity to threaten me. You will not find sin, and when you realize that I might even think to pity you and your lonely life."

[Karalie Heise]

Karalie simply snorted.  Of course the heathen didn't believe in the good Lord.  It certainly explained a lot about her, and also why Karalie had felt wary about her from the beginning.  She was marked with evil and her heart had known all along.  

The threats from the Brit who was creeping further into her room only ticked her off more.  There was nothing clever about Penelope and Karalie simply rolled her eyes at her weak threats.  She would find no memories in her room worth absorbing.  She'd never done a bad thing in her life, though her mind was swirling with strange memories of cruel behavior and wicked acts. Still, she had just said she wasn't going to leave.  The school year was halfway over.  She could last the rest of the year like this solely to piss the other girl off knowing she was there.  Hell, she might even dress scantily in front of her girlfriend just to make Lucy look. She could fight dirty, too.


The more Penelope spoke, the more annoyed she was getting.  It was a petty threat and she made her mind up then and there that she could deal with seeing the stupid images.  She was getting more control, having less accidents, and she was switching trainers soon so hopefully she would have even more control over the next coming months.  She was guaranteed to see their disgusting sins but it wouldn't be nearly as often as the fellow retrocog thought. 

"I don' now, nor will I ever need yer pity."  She breathed in a low growl of a voice.  "I ain't goin' nowhere, baby. Ya'll don' scare me, cause in the end yer the one whose gonna be judged.  Yer the one that will need pity, an' ya'll better start prayin' th'good Lord's in uh good mood when that day comes around. Now get the hell outta my room."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Now that Penelope was a few steps further inside the Southern girl's room, the Brit came to a halt. She kept her hands close to herself, having no interest in seeing life through this ignorant retrocog's mind. The point stood as it was; her room was safe, but a single step outside of it would prove another story entirely.

She even almost thought to laugh; although her muddled mind might prove that to be her counterpart's qualities taking over. From the sight of the memory, she had gone almost immediately to where she currently was. Side effects still stood strong.

"Is that really your only defense?" Penny asked, eyebrows raising. "You can't even make a threat for yourself, can you?" Finally, an amused breath passed her lips, not quite a laugh, but the closest version of one Penelope had the capacity to offer. "Instead you have to hide yourself behind the wrath of some metaphoric being in the sky in the name of aggression."

Another step, and this time towards Karalie's desk. She had no interest in touching, but movement felt strangely necessary. "That is brilliant." She paused, turning to face the Southern girl again.