Reflections (Penny)

[Evony Vasiliev]

It was the New Year, 2014, a time to relinquish the the mistakes of the past and start afresh. Evony abided by this new principle, having read about it on the plane back from Hungary. It was a standard quote squeezed in between other silly self-help advice and the menu the airline was offering. It shouldn't have made such an impression but for someone so desperate for an escape, it helped. The thief left Hammel the year before broken, battered and frustrated, having spent the last few days cleaning what was left from Sawyer's stampede in her room.

There had been no proper farewells, everyone was perfectly fine enjoying the holidays. A missing bird wouldn't cause much drama.

Returning to her family renewed the girl's emotional state, simply reconnecting with her beloved father and sister was enough to shed new light on the tormented chapter of her first year in Hammel. Not only had she forgiven herself, but Evony had somewhat forgiven Sawyer and by proxy, Lucy. 2014 would be the year she started winning! For herself and everyone around her.

After the holiday was over, with plenty of food stuffed in her belly and a lot of random gifts bestowed upon her by the ragtag group of doting relatives, Evony returned to America with hope in her heart and ambition in her mind.

First thing was first though, get rid of the unfortunate jetlag.

The gym was her first destination, knowing full well it would be empty so late in the afternoon and a place where she could exhaust herself enough to force her body into a sleep. The dainty mirror jumper stretched, flipped, whirled, spun and leapt across the padded flooring with equal amounts grace and zeal, reclaiming her skill as the ever so light and athletic Blue Bird (now purple...)

How long she danced, she could not tell but soon enough Evy found herself splayed out on the mat with a content smile on her face and elated breaths pumping out of her lungs.

Hopefully this year would be better than the last.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope didn’t often venture into the gym, but on occasion she enjoyed working out. She normal did basic stuff in her room, but she had been cooped up there for too long, if that were even possible, and the Brit felt a need to move her body. And, not to mention, she needed to stop staring at that painfully white ceiling. It hurt more now than it did the first day Lucy had painted it. Her lips pressed into a hard line as she thought about it.

In order to get to the cardio room where she was headed, Penelope had to cross through the gym. She assumed the place would be empty – Penny was practically a professional at finding the best times to use certain areas of the school so that she didn’t have to deal with other people. It was just easier being alone.

She figured she’d do a bit of stretching before going straight into cardio, and the gym was the best place to do that, due to the section of padded floor. As she crossed over the gym, it didn’t take her long to realize someone else was there lying on the padded floor.

No problem. It’d only take a few minutes to stretch and she’d be on her way. Minimum socializing.

But the instant she approached the girl, her eyes widened. She hadn’t realized who it was due the change in hair color. Her lips pressed into a hard line as she gently put down her bag.

“…May I join you?” Penelope considered just flat out leaving. It certainly would be easier to do so.

She closed her eyes a moment, feeling those memories flash through her mind again. There were so many questions.

“Evony, correct?”

[Evony Vasiliev]

Being someone of such slight proportions would've easily made Evony unnoticeable amongst the horde of gym equipment strewn across the floor of the gym. Whilst she wasn't necessarily hiding, the thief was in the habit of watching people from the safety of a mirror or from behind something larger than herself. So upon hearing the entry of the other patron, the skinny swindler considered disappearing altogether and watching whatever loner came to the gym at this time.

Unfortunately for her, she was much too comfortable simply lying on the floor to even bother scampering away.

The new arrival was a pretty girl, vaguely familiar if not just another passing face at Hammel. By now, the Blue Bird had only memorized half of her peers named and gave up on the rest, a challenge for this new year maybe. Remember people's names, especially the good looking ones.

"Yeah, sure! Help yourself." The girl smiled, propping herself upwards and motioning with her hand to the large empty space surrounding her.

The girl's accent was enough to warrant Evony's attention and she offered teh newcomer her least jetlaggy grin she could manage, it had been a while since she spoke with anyone in english since the holiday.

"That's me." She grinned, running a hand through the mass of violet hair. Several seconds of silence passed in an attempt to remember whatever this girl's name was. "You're...Perry?" Evony suggested, half embarrassed at her attempt at memorization.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

To be honest, Penelope was half hoping the girl would be completely rude and tell her to shove off – something inside of the Brit naturally wanted to dislike the purple haired girl. Penelope refused to admit he was jealous, however. Because there wasn’t need to be. Lucy wasn’t her girlfriend; they weren’t committed, Penelope reminded herself.

“Thank you.” Penelope slowly sat down. She watched Evony carefully as the girl smiled at her.

Damnit. She seemed nice.

Penny offered a small smile in return in order to be polite. She had no reason to be rude to the other. Right.

The Brit pushed her legs forward, forming a straight line in front of her as she pointed her toes outward. She wasn’t quite ready for full stretches yet. Not now.

“Penelope.” The psychometrist corrected without hesitation. It didn’t surprise her that the girl didn’t know her name – at least she was close. “I live a on the same floor.”

[Evony Vasiliev]

Whilst twiddling a strand of violet between her thumb and index finger, the thief momentarily found her memory fading back into the recent trip back to Europe. Her family had grown up, they were more world weary yet still retained their uncanny camaraderie. There, in the circus, she was the Blue Bird, high flying acrobat with locks of azure and upon gazing at her hair the skinny swindler thought it best to return to he trademark. Not now, but soon.

Upon having her attempt at the girl's name corrected, Evony could not help but give a sheepish grin. "Right, I think I may have seen you around." Evony mumbled, watching Penelope stretch with a vague curiosity.

There was a moment of silence, both girls stretching with no other sound but the air conditioning.

"So, did you have a nice New Years?" She chirped, wriggling her toes and exhaling a long stream of air. "Get up to anything interesting and stuff?" Evony asked, allowing the lighthearted small talk to bounce off her tongue. It was the nice thing to do and her curiosity usually took the better of her.

Besides, making a new friend was always a great start to the year.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope remained silent, deciding to start her stretches. With ease, she bent forward, extending her hands to touch her toes. She rested her head on her knees, holding the position. Although not all that athletic, the Brit was in decent shape; she stretched every morning to make up for how stiff she usually was during the rest of the day.

The psychometrist let out a long breath as she continued to stretch out on the mat. Her mind involuntarily wandered towards Lucy – what connection did she have with the purple haired girl? The Brit pressed her lips together in a mixture of thought and irritation.

Penelope's eyes flicked towards Evony as she spoke; she had almost missed the question completely. She sat up as she let it sink into her brain. Oh, right. New Years.

That night she was alone – she convinced her brother to go out and enjoy himself while she stayed behind, still finding safety in his small apartment. It was a blur, really, between that night and the rest for that entire week. She mostly remembered being tired, yet unable to sleep.

Now that she thought further on it, she determined that it was this girl's fault that night had gone so badly. Her jaw tightened at the thought.

“Nothing exciting, but it was nice. Quiet.” she lied, lifting her arm over her head. Why did she have to be so nice? “How was yours? Spend the night with anyone fun?”

[Evony Vasiliev]

Rocking back and forth on her tailbone, with her arms loosely draped around her legs Evony was the complete embodiment of contentment. Whilst there were the ever-present queries in the back of her mind concerning Lucy and everything Lucy related, the thief was trying to look at things through a new perspective, one which wasn't clouded with manic paranoia. The time would soon come where she would have all of her suspicions answered, until then the violet haired vagabond was more than happy with her current state of zen. It was the girl's aim to settle everything that tormented the final months of the previous year and ensure she didn't fail so miserably in the romantics department.

The scrawny swindler's cerulean eyes watched the new acquaintance, her thoughts catching onto every possible moment where she may have seen Penelope before. The brunette was pretty, no point denying that, and it came with minor frustration to not stick the face to any known class or activity in the past few months.

Must've been because she was so consumed with the tattooed Australian that everyone else faded into the background. Whether that was wise in the long run did not concern the thief. Her affection for Lucy merited a level of focus unseen in many aspects of Evony's life such as remembering people's names and attempting to quell her petty crimes.

Scrunching her toes, the not so blue Blue Bird fiddled with her hair whilst listening to Penelope's New Years recount. It was clearly xciting stuff from the level of enthusiasm lacking in the British student's voice.

Curling her spine, Evony found a crooked little grin slip over lips at the thought of her own New Years.

"It was...good. Yeah, very good." The thief nodded to herself, wondering whether the lack of any New Years kisses actually bothered her or not. "I spent my night with two clowns and a contortionist, everything a girl could dream of." She sighed, utterly serious with her admission. What was a completely normal fact to the ex-circus performer probably sounded like a massive lie to anyone else.

"I don't think I could've managed a New Years here though, Hammel is filled with a bunch of weirdos." Evony smirked, knowing full well the irony that bled into the statement.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope had to admit, she barely knew Evony before witnessing those memories. The only reason she had recognized her at any time was because of her irritatingly bright hair. If it weren’t for that, she might not have caught Penny’s attention at all before.

The Brit’s eyebrows knitted in confusion as Evony explained her New Years, but she also couldn’t stop the small amount of relief that washed over her when she said she wasn’t at Hammel for it. She knew Lucy wasn’t quite a contortionist, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to hear the ink manipulator be called a clown. In fact, Penny was certain she had called the Australian a clown at some point.

“That sounds like…quite the night.” The psychometrist wasn’t positive as to how to reply to such information. Was she being literal? Penny had no idea of Ev’s background.

She let out an airy breath at the stab at Hammel, idly nodding as she started to do another stretch. “I would have to agree with that statement. This school is filled with a strange bunch.” She hesitated, knowing this was her best opening. Her better judgement told her not to open her mouth, but her curiosity was too great to stop.

“Like that Serrano.”

[Evony Vasiliev]

Regardless of how much she missed the company of a few certain individuals during New Years, there was no denying Evony's unhindered joy at sharing such a loud festive time with her family of vagabonds. The stress of the months before washed away during that time and there was little acknowledgement to the heartache and confusion that continued to riddle her conscious.

Now that Evony had returned to reality, it was an unfortunate development that the gnawing thoughts and feelings still lingered. Distraction could help, but they certainly weren't the answer.

"Oh believe me, it was." The thief grinned, thinking back to the maverick adventures she shared with her ragtag group of friends.

Almost instantly, for the sake of keeping the conversation alive, Evony nodded in agreement to Penelope's statement. Being a metahuman did not excuse people being weird and this school probably trumped any other institution for the amount of ridiculousness. Everyone was having sex with everyone, it was like some under eighteen's orgy that Evony could only watch from the sidelines, something which she had yet to properly sate as well.

Evony found herself cock a brow at the sudden mention of the Australian, her gaze instantly snapping back onto the brunette girl to see if it was a joke. No one ever singles out people's names for no reason, was this going to turn into some bitchfest about Lucy? The sudden namedrop instantly forced the violet haired swindler into a more wary state, her lips pursed in deep thought.

"She isn't weird. She's just Australian." Evony nodded to herself, a little smile cracking at the edge of her lips at the thought of the tattooed beauty. "Besides, Lucy is actually a really awesome girl if one bothered to make friends with her. You should see her drawings, amazing stuff." The thief smiled, turning away momentarily just to hide the minor blush touching her cheeks.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

The moment Penny spoke Lucy's name, she could feel the tension skyrocket in the gym. She tried her best to remain as nonchalant as possible, and continued stretching as if she hadn't said anything. Obviously Penelope wasn't the best at this – gossip and backtalk was a topic she normally avoided, so now that she was trying to use it to her advantage, she had no idea how a normal conversation went about it.

She glanced over at the girl, studying her expression. The pursed lips, followed by a defensive reply. It should had been expected, but Penelope found herself tensing as she listened to the purple haired girl. Penny sat up quickly, the tension in her body making it hard to properly stretch.

“I don't get along with her that well,” Penelope explained shortly, the statement being true if you had taken the previous few weeks out of consideration. “I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were close with her.” The psychometrist tried to drag her gaze away, but she often found the most answers in people's expressions, and if she did look away, she might miss something important.

“I've seen her drawings, however.” she added in, thinking of Lucy's art-covered walls. “She's talented. I'll give her that.”

[Evony Vasiliev]

It was peculiar speaking about Lucy with a complete stranger, someone who would provide Evy with fresh unbiased ears when speaking about the Australian in question. The only other person Evony spoke about Lucy with was Luxanna, and even then it had been a while since their last meaningful heart-to-heart. But now, without any prior knowledge of Penny and her relationship with Lucy, the thief had to carefully consider what she allowed to slip out of her mouth.

Running her fingers through the waterfall of violet hair, the porcelain skinned thief's brow cocked at the girl's admission of not getting along well with Lucy. It was a confession that offered little surprise and Evony found herself empathising with Penelope. Lucy wasn't the most gracious individual, so running into trouble with her wasn't something that required much work.

"It's okay, I've had my fair share of bad moments with her." The thief sighed, 'bad' was probably the biggest understatement of the year. Glancing at the girl, Evony found the subtle twists in the conversation highly curious, was there some hidden ploy? If there was, it would slip soon...hopefully.

"She's a talented little cookie that one." Evony found herself grinning at the statement whilst wriggling her toes to keep the blood flowing. "Bit of a nerd as well might I add." She snorted, thinking back to th Australian's bountiful gaming knowledge.

Taking in an elated breath, the acrobat loosened her arms and lolled her neck around, freeing up the muscles in her body. A twinge of curiosity that was planted during one of Penelope's earlier statements finally took hold of the girl and with curl in her lip, she focused her attention back on the brunette.

"Would it be weird if I ask why you don't get along with her?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope pressed her lips into a hard line. The girl was hard to read. One moment she was trying to hide her blush, and the next she sounded frustrated with Lucy. Overall though, Penelope was starting to get the impression that they were, overall, on good terms, at least from the way that Evony spoke about her.

Penny had to refrain herself from smiling when Evony referred to her as a nerd. It was true. Lucy loved her video games. She leaned forward again to continue her stretches. Even with the tension, she couldn’t very well stop, now could she? That’d be suspicious.

Penny raised her eyebrows at the question, and she hesitated. It was easy to list off things that drove her nuts about her Australian, especially in front of others, but something about this girl’s tone made Penny feel like she was put on the spot.

The Brit let out a long breath, buying her time as she finished holding her position. “We’re very different people,” she stated carefully, “She’s loud and swear a lot. She has little to no sense of organization that I can see; she can be so—“ Penelope paused, looking over at Evony. She was getting ahead of herself, as she usually did when speaking about the ink manipulator. “I’m sorry. She just…frustrates me.”

[Evony Vasiliev]

Overall, Evony was enjoying the conversation with Penelope. The change in subject, although peculiar and somewhat suspicious, was always a topic the thief was willing to pour her honesty into. Although the subject in question had hurt the Blue Bird with her neglect and vitriol it only seemed fair considering the same was done to the Australian as well. Evony was not going to mention the details at all, it was not necessary and it wasn't something to entertain strangers with. In some aspects, the entirety of whatever it was the skinny swindler shared with Lucy was sacred, or what was left of it anyways.

The thief did little to doubt the effectiveness of her question, it was already out in the open and it would seem stupid to try and reel it back in. Besides, what was there about Lucy that she didn't know there was to dislike?

The purple haired acrobat reached for her toes, patiently waiting for the reply from this interesting individual. Brushing the chubby digits with her fingers, Evony found herself crack a smile at the list of dislikes provided to her, some of which surprised the girl. Lucy's unique brand of ebullience was something the thief grew to be quite fond of, swearing and all.

"Don't apologise, you can spill your guts here and I won't judge." Evony smiled, desperately wondering whether the American slang was used properly. Rolling her shoulders, she gazed at Penelope with a newfound interest, a sly curiosity that could be likened to the moments she encountered jewellery boxes she knew could not be stolen from. This girl was hiding something, she had to be.

"Frustrates is a strong word." The thief sighed, rummaging through her own memory at the frustration she showed the Australian as well. Running a hand through her hair, the girl pursed her lips, cocking a brow at the pieces of information that dashed through her mind. Useless tidbits that meant little, but a little gust of wind was all that was needed to expose the bugs that tried to hide.

"She snores quite a bit as well." Evony smiled, watching the girl intently.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope raised her eyebrows at the purple haired girl as she explained she wouldn't judge her. She wasn't sure if it was a gut instinct or because she already decided that she disliked the girl, but Penny refused to believe the words. She showed no sign of it either way, however, and simply offered a smile to Evony, keeping quiet. The girl could take it however she liked.

Penny turned her gaze away and started to stretch again as she felt Evony eyes on her. She outstretched her arms, fingers curling up around her gym shoes. The girl was looking for a reaction, and fortunately for Penny, she was very good at remaining expressionless. It was part of why people often looked past the Brit instead of actually noticing her. She observed so much around her, but let very little affect her - Lucy being one of the few exceptions to that rule. The Australian had a way of getting to her, for better or for worse.

“Frustrating is the perfect word to describe her.” Penny said truthfully, turning to face Evony once again. The girl's following comment was almost expected. How else would she try to get a reaction out of her? It was the best way to, after all. “It wouldn't surprise me in the least.” she stated, knowing all too well that Lucy did not, in fact, snore. Her eyebrows raised slightly as she watched Evony, looking at the purple haired girl with judgment; her expression said it all – who would possibly want to sleep with someone like Lucy Serrano? It would have been an idiotic move to not have any sort of reaction to the statement.

“The act would suit her. It's almost unfortunate that she doesn't.” Any expression that she wore before dropped. The games were over.

[Evony Vasiliev]

Teetering on the edge of her gnawing suspicions, Evony could not help but theorise just what it was Penelope was trying to get at. This entire situation was now seemingly headed in a direction where there was no turning back, the small talk was no more and now there was just a singular topic. Lucy was controversial, that's who she was as an individual and for Evony to tip toe around the specifics of her feelings for the girl only made the entire scenario more harrowing.

The skinny swindler had little to no idea of who this brunette Brit was, or why she was so vocal about the eldest Serrano anyways and the threads of doubt began to creep into the back of her skull like a plague. Lucy was a puzzle within a labyrinth inside of an illusion, she was an enigma and one that the overly curious thief had lost herself in.

Evony found herself clench her teeth on her tongue, the piercing in her mouth brushing against the back of her guns as she felt the mood suddenly drop. Whoever this girl was she was clearly hiding something, and why on earth it was from someone she barely knew irritated the acrobat even further. The smug, judgemental look on the girl's visage was enough to make Evony uncomfortable, it was like hitting a raw wound that had yet to be covered. The Australian was so much more than this stranger was making her out to be. The subtleties of her minor annoyance leaked through the sour look she gave Evy and it was enough to decipher some genuine level of frustration. Whether it was actually at Lucy or her was yet to be confirmed.

It felt like the mist was slowly clearing and Evony found herself unravelling whatever game this girl was playing. Regardless, the thief didnt have to sneak through mirrors to know when someone was putting away their mask.

"Look, I have no idea what you're playing at but now you just sound like some sort of stalker." The thief muttered, scrunching her brow at the girl's conclusive statement. She had called the Evony's bluff. There was something going on, something that urged the petty criminal deeper into her suspicions. This wallflower was clearly a lot more sly than the thief initially believed.

"What is it to you anyway? Whether I do or don't know about her sleeping habits..." Evony queried, wondering whether she was really wanted to know the answer or not.