Another Level

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"Oh, okay. Glad to know I'm special," Monroe said with a grin. "Your system?" He rose an eyebrow. "What exactly is your system?" He wasn't even sure if he should ask.

"I don't?" Monroe asked. Okay, so maybe he didn't know a lot of people, but that was beause he just didn't really have the energy to. "Yeah, I know. Adaryn is one of those people. The people in the shadows, the unnoticed, they're often the best, the people you want to get to know." He wondered who she was talking about.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"Ain't it a shame you'll never find out." Lucy replied, raising her eyebrows as her grin instinctively broadened. Truthfully, she didn't have a system. Or a process. What she had with her British counterpart was pure accident, and she didn't think she'd ever be able to rightfully explain it.

She shook her head; as far as Lucy knew, Penny didn't really know any of their classmates. She didn't really talk to anyone. She only recently starting registering the ink manipulator's presence in a less harsh way, and visa versa. Still, she nodded along to what he said, feeling the evident reminiscent quality of his expressions. He'd said those things once before, in the art room.

"I don't think branding it with a label makes it any realer." Lucy started, lowering her eyebrows in confusion as she glanced at the cup between her hands. She ran her thumb across the curve of the plastic lid, "Like, if I was going to do that, I should have months ago. Doesn't it just feel a bit too... High school?"

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"Total shame," Monroe agreed, although he weasn't exactly sure he wanted to know. He and Lucy were two completely different people and while they had things in common like art and wearing beanies...Lucy thought a lot different from him.

He shrugged at what Lucy said next. "Maybe it doesn't. But uh, we are in high school, Serrano." So, yeah it felt like a high school thing to do, but knowing where you stood with someone was important to a relationship in Monroe's opinion. "I mean, you don't have to ask her out. But maybe ask how she feels? Things can get really awkward when you don't know how the other feels. Trust me."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

At his response, Lucy pursed her lips in a contemplative state. She had to give him that one too, but did she really? "Nineteen going on twenty doesn't exactly scream high school, Roe." She replied, "Y'know they graduate a year earlier across the ocean?" So technically, she'd missed the mark three times now. And that burned just as brightly as anything tangible.

But he either took a leap - a likely well calculated one at that - or he felt no need to question her sexuality as he continued. And Lucy's eyes widened a little at the fact.

"Why," She started, pausing to take a breath and quickly shift away from herself again, "Did you just assume Adaryn was into you?"

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"Okay, maybe not. But who cares? You're still in the high school atmosphere. Do whatever you want. Ask her out, ask her how she feels, do something that shows her how you feel. I don't know. But just do something, Serrano. If it's real." He had no idea where this semi-good and cheesy advice was coming from, but it sure was flowing out of him at a rapid rate. She was looking at him kind of strangely and so he backed up for a second to ask another question. "It is a girl we're talking about, right?" he asked, feeling a little awkward now.

"Well, I didn't assume, but even I have my impulsive moments, and when I kissed her, she kissed me back. And I mean, we eventually talked about it. Because we wanted to be together and that was the only way we were going to figure it out."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

It was strangely comforting not to have him agree with the idea that Lucy was too old for high school. It was a decent concern she'd been carrying on the back burner for a while now, so the reassurance was gratifying. It didn't matter how old someone was; a high school environment was just that.

Do something. It was the most broad statement ever. But it was the most sound advice she'd ever received. "Right. Makes sense." Because finally, someone was talking sense when it came to relationships.

"Yeah." Lucy offered, confirming his assumption with a single, almost unimportant word. Like the gender of an individual didn't really make a difference.

Assuming was generally a bad call, it seemed. Directing off impulse seemed to be key, instead. She found it easy to empathise with such a concept. But she was caught on the nature of how he spoke before she registered the words beneath it. "You wanted to be together? But you're... Not together yet? Or are you?" Because if nothing else, the Australian knew that a thing and a relationship were very different.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

Monroe was shocked when Lucy said he made sense, that what he'd said actually had some sort of merit to it, because he was sure he wasn't the role model for relationships. It had taken him long enough to even think about asking Adaryn out for real. They'd been floating in some sort of inbetween stage forever in their relationship.

"Good, I didn't want to assume..." Even though he sort of had assumed that Lucy was seeing a girl. "And..." He let out a sigh. Were they together yet? It was such a hard question and it really shouldn't be. "I'm working on it, but it's not official. Just like you and this girl aren't. Maybe we both need to do something, yeah?" He realized he normally didn't end sentences like that and raised an eyebrow at himself.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy shrugged her shoulders. "It's Hammel." She replied, her mouth threatening a grin. If anything was the anomaly, it was Monroe's straight relationship, but she doubted he needed that articulated for him.

The idea of official statuses drew a mildly concerned look to the Australian's face. It was a more genuine reaction than she would have liked to give, but he deserved it. It was difficult to find trustworthy friends, but she felt as if she truly had when it came to him.

"I will if you will." Lucy stipulated, masking her concern with something of a challenging expression. "Yeah?"