Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me - Open tag

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope hesitated in making the next block as she suddenly felt Sammy lean against her. Her dark eyes widened and she lifted her head to look at the blonde in confusion. “Uhh…” she shifted slightly, trying to ease herself away from the girl. It wasn’t anything against her, in fact, she was very sweet. Physical contact just made the Brit extremely uncomfortable, even if she was wearing multiple layers.

She cleared her throat and started up on the block again once she gained a few inches of space. Even then, she still felt too close to this girl she just met. “Well…” she tried her best to think of how to explain it. “Kind of…I’m more likely to see the memory of you tying your shoe this morning. I mostly see recent things…” she paused, pursing her lips in thought. It had been a while since she really explained her ability to anyone.

[Sammy Wilder]

She felt the other girl move away and Sammy instantly felt bad. She was encroaching on someone else's personal space! Augh, she should be more mindful of who she did it to! Not everybody was Callie, she had to remind herself that. "I'm sorry!" She squeaked, her face apologetic as she clasped her hands in front of her face. "I uh...like...physical contact. And I sometimes forget not everybody does." She winced lightly before scooching a little away from Penelope. She grinned apologetically, hoping the brunette would forgive her.

Busying herself with the blocks, Sammy concentrated on what Penelope was saying, trying to get past the awkward. "That's a safe...safe power." She nodded, unaware of the emotional repercussions that particular ability had. Even if she did know, she would probably feel she would rather have the emotional repercussions than the physical ones her own ability could cause.

"So that's your limitation? Seeing recent things as opposed to like, seeing the history of the object?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope raised her snowy gloves up, waving them slightly. “It’s fine, really. I just… Sorry.” There was no simple way to explain it, well, there was, but generally when she did, it came off as extremely rude. “Please don’t take it personally.” She gave a half smile, not really annoyed with the girl. She seemed sorry enough for not realizing; it was better than most reactions to Penelope’s almost-phobia of physical contact.

Instead of dwelling on it, Penelope went straight to making more blocks. The stack was getting pretty high at this point, although she wasn’t quite sure how high a snow fort needed to be – she had never built one before.

Penny couldn’t stop from laughing lightly at the comment. Safe was not exactly the word she would use to describe her powers. Did it physically harm anyone? Not quite, but the mental burden it put on her was more destructive than anything else. But it wasn’t a topic she was willing to dive into, so the Brit kept her thoughts to herself.

“You can say that.” Penelope nodded, glancing over at Sammy. “Unless something has a very powerful memory associated, it’s usually recent ones.” Penelope shifted again as she placed another block to their stack, feeling the need to change the subject. “So…you control fire?”

[Sammy Wilder]

Blinking at Penelope's denial, Sammy's eyes widened for a second before turning quizzical. And then they softened when the brunette gave her a smile. "It's cool. I shouldn't have invaded your personal bubble. I keep hanging out with people like my best friends Callie and River who are...well, we don't have many physical boundaries I guess?" Sammy tilted her head, briefly pondering over the words she was using and whether they were the right ones. "So I think I kind of got used to that." She smiled sheepishly.

The stack was almost the same height as them in their sitting position and Sammy was so sure if an attack happened, they would be safe and secure. "I'm so proud of us!" Her shoulders lifted as she clasped her hand in delight. She wanted to hug her counterpart but pulled back with a shake of her head. "You've got some skills, Penelope Blaise. I like it." She chuckled, patting their hard work affectionately.

"Mm," Sammy nodded in acknowledgment before the conversation went back to her. "Uh...yes. That's the gist of it. People think it's cool, mind the pun, but I think it's stupid. It just hurts people and things. Look at my shoe, just look it!" She stuck her shoe out for Penelope to see the black bubbly bits on the side that was put there by the fire she accidentally set a few months back. "My brother gave me this shoe, it's got sentimental values but does my ability care about that? Nope. It sucks."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

At least the blonde understood that Penelope liked her space, and respected that after finding out. She couldn’t be mad at the girl for that. “Thank you for understanding.” Most didn’t.

She glanced over at their growing snow wall before looking back at Sammy. In Penelope’s opinion reaction was similar to that of a child’s, but somehow it suited Sammy’s bubbly personality in an endearing way. “Thank you.” Penny laughed lightly, “As do you.”

Penny looked down at the shoe in question, frowning at the burn marks. She could imagine having such an ability would be troublesome. She supposed that there was a negative side to most abilities, Sammy’s included. Although Penny could never imagine placing sentimental value in a pair of shoes, she looked back up at the girl, offering an apologetic smile as she tried her best to not correct Sammy’s sentence to make it more grammatically correct. “I’m sorry, but at least you can still wear them?” Penny tried her best to reflect the girl’s positive attitude, but she wasn’t exactly the best at it.

[Sammy Wilder]

Knowing the subject should be laid to rest, Sammy simply nodded and smiled without any verbal response. Silently, she hoped at one point in life, this girl would understand why physical contact was so...necessary.

She chuckled lightly at Penelope's compliment back to her before patting the snow next to the brunette. Just because she couldn't touch the psychometrist, didn't mean she had to kill every single contact with her.

If Sammy knew just how different Penelope and her were, she would have been so interested in knowing how much more different they could be. Sammy was most definitely a sentimental person that even a small piece of pebble could hold great significance to the blonde.

She looked over to Penelope when the girl offered words of encouragement and she smiled softly. "Yeah. I hope Joe wouldn't mind. Joe's my brother. My eldest brother. He gave me these after I...um. Hmm..." she wondered if she should let the other girl know what happened before. They had just met but she felt like this girl could keep her secret. "Well...these are very dear to me." She nodded, patting her shoes and folded her hands in her lap.

"You know what, Penny? Mind if I call you Penny? I think this is by far the best snow fort I've ever made. Bar none."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope’s eyes shifted and followed Sammy’s hand as the girl patted the ground. She briefly wondered why the action was done, but decided not to question it. This girl seemed like her own entity, and if patting the ground next to Penny somehow comforted her, then the Brit wasn’t going to stop her as long as she didn’t get too close.

She raised her eyebrow at the explanation of how Sammy received her shoes. She caught on to the blip in the blonde’s sentence, but, once again, remained quiet. The pyschometrist rarely questioned such things; she didn’t feel a need to get involved.

“Why would he mind?” Penny asked with slight confusion. She still couldn’t get over the fact that this girl cared about her shoes so much. She did, however, understand brothers. She thought of Michael quickly. No, he wouldn’t be upset if Penny accidently ruined (and then threw out because of it) a pair of shoes he got her. In fact, he’d likely expect it from his younger sister.

The Brit’s expression remained neutral at the question. Most people asked her this; why did so many people feel a need to shorten her name? “I prefer Penelope.” She said simply. Her gaze trailed back to the snow fort. “It’s impressive, I must say.” She picked up a small amount of snow, filling a hole that was in the wall. There. It was perfect.

[Sammy Wilder]

"Oh well...I suppose he wouldn't mind." Sammy pursed her lips and quirked it to the side and shrugged. She was sure Joe wouldn't mind. But it did hold sentimental value. Joe knew how much she loved Chucks and him buying her one with his own pocket money had been a big deal back then. And it wasn't like he couldn't afford another one now if she asked of him.

Sentimentality was an odd thing. Essentially making a piece of junk an anchor to memories and emotions. Thinking about that now, Sammy couldn't help but imagine how difficult it had to be for Penny if she actually touched her shoes right then. It wouldn't be pretty.

"Penelope it is. I keep having this image of calling my best friend's...friend by that name and she scares me a little." Sammy winced and grinned sheepishly. "But you're not scary. You're really sweet." Sammy's grin softened before she busied herself with patting the snow blocks in front of her. Penelope really was though. Taking time out of her possibly busy schedule just to entertain such a childish act of building a snow fort.

"It is. I'm very proud. Now nobody can send a snowball to our face." Sammy chuckled lightly.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope gave an idle nod, still unsure why someone would be offended by throwing out a pair of old shoes. It was illogical. Then again, Penny found very little value in most physical items. She thought of the few things she did have sentimental value in. The broken globe suddenly entered her mind. The anger and emptiness she felt when she saw it shattered on her floor. The Brit pursed her lips at the thought.

And then she thought of the copy of The Hobbit on her bookshelf. An involuntary smile spread across her features. Maybe sentimental value in shoes wasn’t as absurd as she originally thought. Few would understand the significance in her book.

Penelope gave a nod. “I’ve heard of her.” She said slowly, thinking on the other Penelope in the school. She had never met the woman, but heard enough about her to know that she didn’t want to. Not that there were many people the Brit wanted to meet in the first place.

“It would take a lot of snowballs to take this down.” Penny agreed, although she was sure that anyone who tried to throw a snowball in her face would very quickly regret it.

[Sammy Wilder]

"I don't know anybody who doesn't know the head cheerleader." Sammy answered, a little snarkily she thought to herself. She hoped Penelope didn't catch that. She didn't want to let this Penelope think the other Penelope wasn't nice. Although come to think of it, the fact that she already said the other Penelope was scary could have painted a picture for this very nice one.

Moving on.

"Right? Although now that I'm looking out, I don't think anybody would be throwing any snowballs at all." She giggled when she realised there wasn't anybody around.

"Do you have somewhere else to be right now, Penelope?" She turned to the other girl curiously.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope hadn’t caught anything off in the way Sammy had spoken. It might have been because she was too used to such remarks that she ignored them, or that just didn’t care about the head cheerleader. Likely a mixture of two.

Sammy had no need to worry about deterring her from the other Penelope; she had no interest to begin with. “Now you do,” Penelope replied, patting her mittens together to try and get rid of the excess snow on them.

Immediately, Penny pulled up her sleeve to look at the watch on her wrist. “I do, actually,” she confessed. Building a snow fort had taken up all of the extra time she allotted for in order to get back down. She needed to keep to her schedule.

[Sammy Wilder]

"I suppose." She chuckled, noting that while this Penelope was a lot warmer than the other one, she did have a direct way of speaking. No bull, straight to the point.

The fact that Penelope did have someplace else to go had Sammy involuntarily pouting before she forced a smile on her face, hopefully one that appeared before the brunette could catch it. "Well, thank you so much for building this with me." She patted the snow fort and a genuine smile beamed from the blonde.

"And hey, if whatever you wanna do in the future doesn't pan out, we could always join ventures and open an architectural firm." She joked as she tried to stand up, almost falling over due to her legs falling asleep a little. Good thing the for was there.

"Oof...didn't even realise I've been sitting here for so long." She chuckled and extended a hand down to Penelope before taking it back, remembering that she had to respect boundaries. Although... "Um...would you like some help getting up?" She couldn't help courteousness, could she?

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny hadn’t missed the pout that temporarily captured Sammy’s expression, and the Brit offered an apologetic look in return. “This was fun.” She offered, and it had been. Not something she’d do every day, but she had been able to get out of her dorm for a while and get some fresh air. It was refreshing.

The Brit raised a single eyebrow at the statement; she understood that it was a joke, but it was just surprising to hear somebody even joke about such a thing. She was fairly certain neither of them would ever be able to enter the business. Penny shook her head – she was taking it too literally.

She watched as Sammy stood, and immediately put out her hands in case the girl fell. The psychometrist didn’t like to touch, yes, but she also wasn’t going to let the poor girl fall over. Fortunately, she had managed to stay upright, and Penny drew her hands back.

She glanced down at the hand offered to her, and watched as it was retracted. “I’m alright, thank you.” She pushed herself up off the snow, her own legs tingling from how she had been sitting. The Brit brushed herself off slightly before looking up at Sammy again. “Thank you for letting me help build your snow fort. I hope it does you well.” Well for what? Penny wasn’t quite sure, but the blonde seemed happy enough that it had been built.

[Sammy Wilder]

"It was!" Sammy agreed happily, content that Penelope had enjoyed it just as much as she had. She was so sure they were good friends now that if they met once more, Sammy would for sure hang out with her again.

And had Penelope shared her literal take on Sammy's joke, the pyrokinetic would have agreed wholeheartedly. But it had been a joke, that was something she wouldn't dispute.

Not realising that Penelope had instinctively reached a hand out to steady her, Sammy made sure her feet were parted in a way that she was properly balanced out.

Sammy nodded with a smile when the psychometrist declined her offer. The smile widened till her eyes were just half moons on her face. "I hope so too. I wanna be covered if I ever go to battle." She said in a mock serious tone before laughing at her silliness. "I'll see you around, Penelope!" She beamed and patted the fort once more before walking off.

Today had definitely been a very good day.