A Little Worse for Wear

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy had an unfortunate tendency to ruin things. It happened a little too often for it to be anything other than irritating. But perhaps the most irritating thing about it was how unaware she was of these all important failures. The way in which she missed the mark. Either that or the consequences of such a thing just never caught her. More than likely, they simply slipped her mind.

Because surely she hadn't left Carleigh waiting that long. Half an hour to an hour at the most, she figured. But if she managed to ever explain herself, she doubted the blonde could blame her. There was something about a slightly forceful psychometrist that just got to the ink manipulator, especially when she was making such weighted declarations. There was no denying that, but it was likely a fact she'd keep to herself.

Dressed and all, the Australian finally found her way to dorm 401. She rushed as she pushed her way through the door instead of knocking, and she tapped the heel of her boot to Carleigh's dorm rather than actually knocking. Her hands were a little busy. She was holding a bag of flour. One she'd dropped.

Which, really, wasn't her fault at all, but she was going to have to wear it.

Thankfully, Lucy had a pretty helpful roommate who'd patched the few tears Wonder Girl had with some colourful band-aids. She added a little tape for all important security, and Lucy was pretty sure they were good to go.

Kids always got hurt, right? That was a thing?

They probably didn't get dropped by their mothers... She made a note to ask her own about that later.

Cradling the bag of flour along her forearm, she raised a hand to offer the blonde a single wave. "Hey," She said lightly, with no intention of drawing focus to the baby in her arms. She also wasn't going to apologise for being super late, because apologies barely slipped passed her lips at the best of times. "Didn't mean to take so long."

[Carleigh Davidson]

Was Carleigh pissed?

A little bit. The blonde could never really rile herself up that much, so even her worst anger was tame compared to the rest of the population. She had been waiting about forty minutes for her wife to show up with their Cassie, as it was her turn to watch the baby. She was going to go sit outside and enjoy the nice weather with an iced coffee and a fashion magazine. Instead, she had been sitting in the common area of Room 401, arms crossed with a neutral expression, focused on the black TV screen. Fashion magazines sat beside her, all of them already flipped through for the hundredth time.

Where was Lucy?

Carleigh doubted that her wifey would want to keep the baby for a longer period of time. Previously, she had always been on time, if not early, when the shifts changed. It sort of worried her... but maybe she got sidetracked. Distracted. It happened.

Then, the blonde heard a tapping on the door. She wasn't expecting anyone else's company besides Lucy's, so she eagerly bounced off of the couch, speedwalking towards the door. Swinging open the door, Carleigh's typical beaming smile appeared. Lucy invited herself in, which was also typical of the dark haired girl. She simply stepped back, chuckling. "It's okay, figured you got too into bonding with little Cassie." The blonde's anger quickly dissipated. "Can I get you anything? Food? A drink?" She offered, shutting the door behind her. Carleigh's gaze landed on Lucy, but had yet to notice the mess in her arms.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"Yeah, okay." Lucy replied. Bonding? Yes. With a sack of flour? Nooo.

Raising a hand, she waved in response to the offer Carleigh gave to her. Had that been a flash of anger on her beautiful blonde ray of wifey sunshine? It didn't last long, so she almost wasn't sure it existed. And if it did, that was the cutest stint of anger she'd seen in a person ever.

She cradled the sack of flour in the nook of her other arm. "Got a bit caught up, but fuck, better late than never, right?" She asked with a grin, looking around the room she was in. She'd never been in this girl's dorm before, and so her eyes followed along the line of the four doors.

"Which one's yours, bae?"

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh grinned. She didn't have to look at Lucy twice to figure out that her wife was being sarcastic. Although the blonde found the project to be a pain at times, she still complied and found herself sometimes humming or cooing to the baby. Not that she would ever admit that.

She turned to face the room after closing the door, the pages of her magazines rustling in response. Even if she tried, Carleigh was sure she wouldn't be able to stay mad at her lovely wife. It was impossible to stay mad at the Australian for too long. "Late seems to be the average for you, love." After spending more time around her wife, she found herself picking up words the dark haired girl used, such as the petnames. Not the swearing, so much.

There were four doors, but only three rooms occupied. There was the one younger girl that Carleigh had yet to have an actual conversation with, there was herself and there was Eloise, who was graduating this year. "That one." She pointed to the door on the farthest right hand side. For as long as she could remember, the blonde had been in this dorm. "You wanna head in there? Not that interesting."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"Better than never, right?" Lucy asked, shrugging her shoulders once. At least it was a forgiveable offence. She could have easily not shown up at all. In another mindset, she likely would have dumped the sack of flour in the trash and never shown up past the first day. But this was different. She'd been convinced to try, and she was trying.

She glanced over at the door Carleigh indicated towards, and immediately Lucy wondered what it looked like inside. She knew her own room was relatively eccentric. Or rather, attuned to the things she liked. Hell, if she was going to live in a dorm she sure as fuck wanted to make it hers. "Woah, woah. You're asking me into your room?" She asked, raising her eyebrows as her grin broadened, "Didn't pick you for the forward-type." Still, she took steps towards her room, still interested in seeing what it looked like despite the jokes.

"So I gotta tell you something." Lucy pointed out, shifting the sack of flour behind her back on instinct.

[Carleigh Davidson]

"Exactly." Carleigh agreed, though with the flour baby in tow, it seemed hardly likely that Lucy would no show. The first day had scared her, with Lucy suggesting they make pancakes out of Cassandra's innards, but they had reached terms of agreement and here they were, still making it work. And it seemed to be working perfectly well.

As soon as the blonde realized the sexual nature one could take her comment, a blush appeared on Carleigh's face. She didn't even bother to defend her statement (because really, what could she say that would make it less dirty?) as the Californian led Lucy towards her dorm room, her home for the past four years. As she never locked her dorm, Carleigh grabbed the handle and opened up to reveal her dorm room.

It was very much reflective of the type of person Carleigh was. The comforter set was a light pink, and there were clothes everywhere. Failed outfit ideas, dirty clothes, clothes with tags still on them... all littered the room. Glossy magazines, stacked high on her shelf, along with a few books. The room was very stereotypical teen girl, especially for someone like Carleigh.

The blonde turned to face her wife, giving her a curious look. "Alright, yeah, go for it. You can tell me anything." And she considered it the truth. Anything went with their dynamic.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy couldn't help the way her grin broadened from the silence Carleigh offered. It was probably a good call, honestly. There was little she could say that Lucy wouldn't twist.

Still, they'd moved on. And now the pressure was on. Being nervous was weird for Lucy. Even in that moment, she totally wasn't crazy nervous, but she definitely felt... Weary. That was the best way to describe it. She took in the curious look the blonde gave her, and she took a breath as she wondered how to accurately describe what happened earlier that day.

It was nice to be told she could tell her anything. Maybe one day, Lucy would believe that.

"Penny kinda... She made me drop our... Baby." Lucy said, her voice a little sly as she felt the need to take in her expression.

[Carleigh Davidson]

Continuing into her dorm room, Carleigh sat down on her bed with a flop, not quite sure what she was expecting to hear from Lucy. She watched, almost sensing... well, she couldn't quite tell. There was something off with her wife though.

Waiting, Carleigh eyed the dark haired girl, taking in her words. Her expression dropped a little in response, and she raised an eyebrow. Cassandra had been dropped? Forgotten that it was a sack of flour, the blonde said "Well, is she okay?" Was there a lot of damage?

"And... and how did she make you drop the baby?" After meeting Penny a couple of times, she didn't seem like the aggressive type or to cause trouble.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy was clearly cautious about a reply in any form. Was their baby okay? She figured so, but given the state that was totally up to interpretation. She was still keeping it behind her back for a reason.

"Doesn't matter." Lucy replied quickly. Because she didn't really want to explain to the hot blonde how the hot brunette denoted that she felt as if she was Lucy's completely. It wouldn't make sense, perfect as it'd been. "She just did. She surprised me. On purpose."

Tentatively, the Australian shifted the sack of flour in her hands and held it out before her. The drop hadn't been too bad, but the bag had still split and try as she did, Dani couldn't have gotten all the flour back in there. There were even colourful printed band-aids on it, for whatever reason.

"She's still our little girl, baby. I swear." Lucy added, unable to help herself on that front.

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh opened her mouth to interrogate further, snapping it shut when she realized she wasn't sure if she wanted to know why. Instead, she just let out a small sigh and shook her head. "I guess at least it wasn't a real baby." She added optimistically, though Cassandra still felt very real. As real as a sack of flour could get.

She leaned back against the back of her bed, watching as Lucy brought forth Cassandra. It still looked like their baby, somewhat. A mangled, covered in colourful bandages baby. Carleigh couldn't help the frown that appeared soon after.

"Jeez, that's brutal." The blonde blurted out. With the state of their baby, she doubted that they were going to pass the assignment now. While at the beginning that would've devastated Carleigh, she now felt oddly... indifferent towards the project. They had lasted longer than expected and she got a hot new friend out of it. "No brain damage?" She asked. "Cause I doubt she'll be able to talk or walk now. The poor thing."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"She is too a real baby, baby." Lucy interjected quietly. Because if there wasn't realism, what was there?

The frown the blonde wore was matched by the brunette's distaste for it. But the idea of failing never struck Lucy. As far as she was concerned, they totally had this. "Oh, she'll walk." Lucy replied, her eyebrows lowering at the offence. "And talk. And we totally won't fail. I've got a plan." The plan primarily involved striking while her counterpart's flour baby was left alone. Maybe when the awkward dude partner of hers had it.

A little handful from one and into the other - good as new. "I'm very protective. And I think you are too. You should talk to her about it one day, cause like, how dare she."

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh lifted her head to glance at Lucy's expression, smiling. "I know she's real, love. Other people may beg to differ." Because how many other people took the project as seriously as they did? That alone should be more than enough to pass.

Raising an eyebrow, her gaze flickered between her wife and Cassandra and the assortment of bandages covering the outer layer. "How is she going to walk and talk? We going to make our baby a cyborg or something?" She asked. Considering the two of them didn't have the skillset for that, she doubted their ability to salvage poor Cassie. "What's the plan?" cause this should be interesting.

A smirk danced across her lips momentarily. The thought of approaching Penny to yell at her about destroying their baby was funny, but it lasted only a moment since Lucy's counterpart not only scared Carleigh, but made her feel uncomfortable in her presence. "We should totally do that." She said, emphasizing the 'we.' Because she wasn't going to face her alone, no way.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy couldn't stop the way her eyes widened with relative excitement at the idea of a cyborg baby. No, that was crazy, wasn't it? Wasn't it good enough to have a technically tatted up baby as it was? It was, if nothing else, a grand statement and a perfect idea.

No wonder she'd kissed her the first time they met.

"It's better if you don't know." She replied, raising her free hand to stop the idea entirely.

Immediately, the ink manipulator raised her eyebrows at the idea of 'we'. It was a lot less funny when she factored herself in. Her raised hand closed, leaving only an index finger she promptly shook back and forth. "No, no." She reasoned, turning a hand and pointing towards her instead, "This is definitely a job for you. Let me know how it goes, though. I hear she doesn't care much for grades."

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh noticed as Lucy's eyes widened at the thought of turning their poor Cassandra into a cyborg. "Before you say anything, unless it's a totally safe procedure I don't want anyone experimenting on her." She interjected. Because really, the last thing they needed was to lose more flour from her remains.

But she wanted to know the idea. A frown appeared on the blonde's face, but she didn't protest it. Sighing, Carleigh said "Fine. But I just hope you know what you're doing then." She was confident that Lucy did. Wifeys always had each other's back.

The frown on her face deepened. Facing Penny alone? Nah. Carleigh shook her head, before it tilted up at the last sentence. "Really? She doesn't?" She couldn't help the bewilderment and shock from entering her voice. How could someone like Penny not care about grades?

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

A feigned pout formed on the Australian's lips. Rules were always put in place to deter her from the most fun things she could think of. But who was she to argue? "Fiiiine." She exhaled the word, her shoulders falling. If the blonde wanted the child untainted, she could have it as she liked.

"You wanted a passing grade? Well, your wife will provide." Lucy replied with a definite nod. After all, it was Carleigh who convinced her to give an ounce of care for the project itself. It was Penny's fault the child was dropped. Retribution would definitely find them all the moment Lucy got the chance.

Lucy shook her head definitely, doing her best to hide the grin that threatened to grow, "She totally doesn't. She's like, the worst for keeping me away from schoolwork. No wonder I'm set to fail this year."