Seventeen Tracks

[Karalie Heise]

Leave the door open? Karalie felt a shiver tickle down her arm.  They were doing that this morning?!  Her nose wrinkled in disgust and she scowled, just as repulsed at the thought of them doing what she saw as she was about having to see it.  She reminded herself that Lucy didn't know what she could do, none of them did.  No one had taken the time to get to know her anymore than she had taken the time to get to know any of them.  "It's imprinted on th'couch." She growled softly, so low she wasn't entirely sure the others would or could hear her.

Lucy turned more towards her, coming closer and Karalie felt her body tense instinctively.  If she were to touch her, or attack her or.. if she did anything she would be completely helpless.  Karalie didn't want to touch the other girl, afraid of the nasty images that would be planted into her mind until old age was kind enough to erase it.  Instead of touching her, Lucy leaned in and mentioned that basically if she was looking for sex, it wouldn't come from Lucy.  Her cheeks turned fire red, which she knew was Lucy's intention, and her body tensed more as she glared at the girl.  She was trolling her now, trying to get a rise from her.  Clearly Karalie was against their relationship and them doing their nasty business where others could easily see, whether they had retrocognition or not.  Lucy checked to make sure Penny wasn't into sharing, emphasising the girls name, which Karalie soon found out wasn't what she normally went by.  She'd had such little contact with the girl, that she based her name by what she'd heard her being called, which was Penny since Lucy was the one she usually heard calling her name out.  Suddenly she felt equally embarrassed as she was angry for calling the girl the shortened version of her name when it was only what her lover called her, feeling disgusted and like she needed to shower and scrub this entire filthy conversation away.  If only that were possible.  To make matters worse she was a little unnerved by the moving tattoo on the girls arm.

"Sex is tuh be shared between uh man an' uh woman.  Whatchu all are doin', that's just... it's indecent an' wrong.  Yer not married, an' the Lord forbids that sorta unholy union anyway."  Karalie knew she probably sounded like a zealot but this belief had been instilled in her since birth, and even being discriminated against by her own family wasn't enough to stop her from discriminating against others.  In her own mind she couldn't understand why Lucy and Penelope would choose to be this way when things were already so difficult considering they were meta.  "I want nothin' tuh do with that, not ever, an' I don't wanna see it.  I can see everythin' that happened on this couch just by touchin' it, so.. just.. just keep yer business private, alright? That too much tuh ask?!"

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Imprinted on the couch? Admittedly, that was a pretty weird thing to say or even suggest. Lucy took it in as definite information, but filed it away until it made more sense.

Because what was more pressing to her was the way she blushed. It was the most perfect reaction she could have hoped for; from the colour of her cheeks to the obvious tension she wore. Another girl in this dorm unable to stand at the mere mention of sex. Maybe they put them all in here for a reason. She watched the way the flustered girl's eyes filtered down her arms, catching sight of the living tattoos she wore. How their blackened eyes focused on her with precision.

When Penny gave the answer Lucy knew she would, the ink manipulator turned her head back to Karalie and shook her head. Penny was a reservation earned, and she wasn't invited. The exposed tattoo at the back of her thigh searched the psychometrist's expression, offering a grin to match his owner's purposeful confidence.

Until she herself dragged her eyebrows up at the notion of the proverbial definition of sex, marriage and possibly - probably - love.

"Ohhh." Lucy offered the realisation in a sound. Not simply because of the onslaught of religious connotations, but the fact that she saw things by touching them. Damn, that was rough. How she managed to do anything in the dorm was starting to become a mystery. Lucy was imprinted all over the place, and she knew that all too well. "Down under we're big on the underworld. Do you just watch me bang my girlfriend, or are you lucky enough to really live it?" The Australian asked her, her fingers playing along the back of the couch.

She raised a hand, raking her fingers through the lion on her forearm as he immediately shifted to flash his teeth at her. With her palm pressed against it, she tilted her head to the side slightly. That tattoo facing Penny lost his smirk with quick ease, adopting a hardened expression instead.

"If you see everything I bet you know I've seen half the dorm starkers already," Lucy pointed out, momentarily forgetting Penny's presence when it came to her awkward encounter with Olivia months ago, "Might as well toss your kit off, too."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

As low as her roommate’s voice was, Penelope still heard her. Imprinted. A word that caught her attention. It was imprinted on the couch. Her eyebrows twitched together in a moment of thought, because she couldn’t deny how familiar it sounded. The psychometrist held her tongue, however. It was easy to draw conclusions, and she refused to just yet.

Karalie’s blush also hadn’t gone unnoticed, and Penelope couldn’t blame her for the color in her cheeks in that moment. They threatened her own, had the conversation been directed at her they surely would have flared up, too. Lucy Serrano could be undeniably blatant when it came to the subject of sex, how anyone could handle that, Penelope didn’t know.

Her attention didn’t hold on the Southern girl, gaze tracking back to Lucy, and by instinct, down her form where she caught the eyes of a king. How he grinned so purposefully, similar to Lucy’s herself. She strived for those reactions, and he made that so evident. Penny couldn’t help the smallest twitch of her own lips in response. Lucy’s confidence was overwhelming.

But her own was shaken at Karalie’s beliefs. Penelope’s back straightened on instinct, but her gaze never left the bright inked eyes staring back at her from the back of Lucy’s thigh. Her lips pressed together into a forceful line as she took in a short breath.

And thankfully her loud counterpart was there to speak enough for two people. Or was it something to be thankful about? Penny’s breath caught in her throat, a jolt of tension shooting through her jaw. Learning her roommate could see everything that happened on the couch was startling, but hearing her response was more so.

She could be so harsh at times. Penny drew her hands up, crossing her arms as she looked back up to Lucy, with her back still turned to her, she wished to catch a glimpse of her expression, but it was fruitless as Lucy continued her forward tactics.

It wasn’t until the Australian shifted a hand over her arm did Penny follow. Her gaze immediately dropped back down to King Varian. How his expression changed so drastically. And what the most certainly meant.

The psychometrist took a few steps forward, doing her best to ignore the statement about half the dorm’s population for the moment. She stepped behind the Australian, brushing her hand across the small of her back lightly.

[Karalie Heise]

Karalie couldn't believe what this girl was saying to her.  She felt her skin prickle with embarrassment and she suddenly wanted to run from the room, but knew that was the reaction Lucy was going for.  She was goading her on and Karalie was allowing it.  She couldn't keep a level head.  She'd never had to! Ugh, she suddenly wanted to punch that stupid smirking face, not that she knew anything about fighting, and she knew Lucy could take her on.  Then there was a good chance she would pull a memory of making out with her roommate.  How uncomfortable would that be? Not likely as uncomfortable as the situation she currently found herself in.

Karalie decided not to humor her with an actual answer.  She didn't watch the two of them go at it by choice, and "bang" was such a vulgar way of describing what they did.  It always bothered her how promiscuous the world around her was, how they could so casually sleep with each other.  Even when in a relationship it should be really special, shouldn't it? Then again she had nothing to go on.  She imagined when she was married she and her husband would make love.  It would be intimate and sensual and everything that Lucy and Penelope did was anything but.  She would need to touch either of them to get their memories, their actual memories.  For now, she only had to watch it from the perspective of the stupid couch, was disgusting enough.

Karalie didn't understand the slang the Aussie used, but the context told her enough; Lucy had seen someone else naked, and was now teasing her into doing the same.  Which of the other sluts was it? Surely it wasn't intentional.  She couldn't imagine one of the other two sliding into bed with these freaks.  "Ya'll would like that, wouldn'tchu." She snarled, glaring at Lucy and standing her ground.  She stood up and faced the other girl.  "Think yah can corrupt me too?"  She knew Lucy must have been the one to turn poor Penelope.  She seemed sweet enough, well, sort of..  "Think again. Ya'll disgust me.  Yer sick, yuh know that? Have uh lil' self worth. Yer uh joke." She snapped not so much trying to hurt the other girl as to attempt to put her in her place.  Years of being in the beauty circuit had left her with the idea that what others saw you as and thought of you as was what truly mattered.  What was on the outside tended to mean more than what was on the inside, except to those you let close to you.  They would see your inner beauty, but the world didn't care how dreadful you were on the inside, so long as you acted like a lady. "An' I don' appreciate you waltzin' in here like ya'll live here an treatin' me like this. I have a good mind tuh call housin' on yer ass!" It was a petty threat, one she knew deep down Lucy could care less about, but in the moment she wasn't thinking clearly.  Her mouth was just going, getting her deeper in trouble with every passing second.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy couldn’t contain the breath of laughter she exhaled at the idea that she might actually want to see this girl naked. The idea of corruption had her pressing her grin into a line to try and keep her laughter in check, but Lucy Serrano had never been good at that. Were it not for the familiar hand grazing across her skin, the ink manipulator might have thought to point out that Penelope Blaise was quite possibly the gayest individual she’d ever met in her life. Nah, that was too easy. She stood and listened and even nodded. Disgusting. Sick. And definitely lacking in self-worth.

Calling housing? The light of recognition caught her eyes and she raised her eyebrows, dropping her jaw and giving a slow, definite nod. “I think I know what’s going on here.” She reasoned finally, clarity overtaking her.

“If you’re really that curious,” Lucy started, dropping her hand from her arm and tucking the heavily tattooed one behind her back. She pressed the lion into the small of her back instead as she dropped her eyes now that the other girl was standing. Pursing her lips, she tilted her head to one side and let her gaze linger with as much purpose as she could.

And she rolled her shoulders, adopting such a matter-of-fact tone to the whole process; “I’ll fuck you so damn well you won’t question why they call it such a sin. It’ll be so fucking gloriously life changing you’ll spend the rest of your high school life rewritten.” Lucy replied, raising her gaze slowly back to her eyes, “And every bloody step you take – every surface you touch – will just be another reminder of how fucking brilliant it felt to be a little wrong.” A small twitch of her nose, and a defined raise of the corner of her mouth; a knowing grin. “And you’ll never question why again. You’ll be too busy praying I’ll toss you another mind blowing, toe curling, throat burning throwdown.”

Drumming her fingers on the back of the couch, Lucy straightened her back. “Might as well.” She reasoned, shrugging at the fact.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Everything her roommate was offering sounded completely ridiculous. Backwards thinking of the average Southern worshiper. The tension in her jaw building as she clenched it. Corruption. As if it were ever that simple. She knew better than to believe this girl’s beliefs, but hearing it still drew the smallest physical reaction from the psychometrist.

Every point she made, Penelope wanted to counter, and her lips parted with the threat to. It was rare for her to ever wish to speak out, but there were also certain subjects that would draw her out to do so. The harsh words against Lucy seemingly being the first on the list, but before Penny could get anything out her counterpart was faster to the punch. Lucy was quick to speak back, always ready with an artillery of words to shoot back.

Once started, it was impossible to get her to stop. Not until she was finished.

Penelope had been on the receiving end of some extremely harsh words when it came to Lucy Serrano. She knew just how well the Australian could get under a person’s skin and say just the right phrase to make a critical blow.

She felt the shift of Lucy’s arm, and she glanced down to the way she pressed her forearm against the small of her back. The lion. Hidden. She could only imagine how he looked in that moment. Her own hand remained pressed to her skin just under it, not having a chance to move it before the onslaught of language came forth.

Her eyes widened. Penny was never prepared for the boldness her counterpart could display within a quick shift, but this was harsh. As much as she believed Karalie deserved a right verbal slap to the face, it felt oddly personal. It wasn’t supposed to get to Penny – she knew that. But Karalie wasn’t the only one with a memory based power.

And Penelope most certainly did feel that reminder with every surface she touched.

Her hand tracked upwards as Lucy shrugged, never looking the Southern girl. Fingers curled around the wrist at her back, lightly squeezing it. “Lucy.” She said calmly, quietly.

[Karalie Heise]

Lucy looked liked she'd had a revelation of sorts, and when she said she knew what was going on, Karalie only felt slightly hopeful that her answer would be serious.  What followed was not what Karalie expected at all, though.  It wasn't serious like she'd hoped, but vulgar in the worst ways possible.  Who the hell did this girl think she was!?

Karalie's cheeks turned a hot, burning red that crept down from her cheek bones all the way to her neck and she was certain part of her chest.  Angry, embarrassed, humiliated and disgusted came together to cause a perfect storm in her brain and she felt herself lose control.  Memories started swirling, her head began to throb, strange thoughts were passing through her mind that she couldn't even recognize, foreign memories from people she'd never met, odd things popping up like the color of a man's tie and the burning loss of a loved one she didn't actually know.  She'd never felt something so disturbing and her vision blurred around the edge's.  Why would Lucy say something so despicable? And in front of her girlfriend! What was wrong with this person?!

"Yer a delusional bitch!" She spat, the words surprising even her, her tone one she had never taken with anyone before.  Had she ever been this angry? This furious at one single actual person and not some made up memory in her mind? Karalie couldn't think of a single moment when she'd despised someone so thoroughly.  "Even if I were gay I'd never let yer pathetic hands on me." She didn't know where the words were coming from, but it was unlike her to speak like this. 

She couldn't stand to hear another word, though.  Her feet moved before her brain told them to, turning and heading for the door.  She opened it and slammed it hard behind her, A memory of Lucy Serrano pressing Penny.. no, Penelope up against it slipping into her mind and causing Karalie to actually scream out in disgust as she stormed down the hallway.  Her mind was still racing, obscure memories twisting their way to the forefront of her mind, causing her emotions to go into overdrive as she wanted to cry and laugh at the same time over things she couldn't actually remember happening.  Her head pounded and she could actually see red.

Housing was about to get some serious lip from her.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

As far as Lucy was concerned, it didn’t matter what Karalie said next. The colour on her cheeks provided the clarify Lucy proposed. The Australian wore that trademark grin with relative ease; the most potent reactions were the very thing that proved she’d gotten to someone. And really, wasn’t that the goal here?

There was a sliver of her mentality that registered the movement of her counterpart’s hand; how it felt to have her give any kind of response considering how quiet she’d been. It was one thing for her to make contact, but for her to shift it – to offer the ink manipulator’s name in such a level headed way – was so jarring Lucy thought to push it away. It was the kind of distraction she couldn’t afford in a moment like that, but the idea of creating distance was just as damaging. So in the end, she did nothing. She was busy; she wasn’t done.

She crinkled her nose at the idea that she was delusional. A bitch? Who isn’t. But delusional? The expression she wore provided the belief that no, she wasn’t delusional. She had some pretty relative facts to back it up, if she were interested.

“They’re not pathetic,” Lucy pointed out, raising her hand from the back of the couch to stare at her nails for a brief second before she looked back at her, “They’re a thing of wonder.”

Her nonchalant tone of voice was graining against the clearly defined anger Karalie wore. And either way, it didn’t matter. As she stormed off, Lucy watched her leave. As she took those steps away, Lucy had to laugh. It was as obnoxious as every other time she’d laughed at Penny’s roommate.

But the moment the door closed was hardly any different. The humour slowly subsided and Lucy took a small breath. It was a spare set of moments before she did anything else – just a heavy sigh to shake the residual feelings from her form. Raising her hand, she ran it through her hair, pushing her dark locks to one side to ensure their perfection as she stepped off in the direction of the door.

“I gotta go.” Lucy feigned that similar nonchalant lightness, turning for a spare second as she raised her hand in a quick wave in her direction. But her attention was back to the door she was heading for within an instant. As if nothing remotely pertinent had just taken place in the room they stood in.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

The lack of response from her counterpart shouldn’t had been surprising. She was on edge, and nothing – not even Penny – could stop Lucy Serrano from finishing this. Still, the Brit kept her fingers curled around Lucy’s wrist, keeping her there with a gentle hold. It wasn’t as if she was looking to move away, anyway.

Even with the onslaught of insults from Karalie, Penny’s gaze never shifted from Lucy, trying to catch as much of the Australian’s expression as she could from where she stood. Yet that hadn’t meant the Brit wasn’t listening to what the southern woman had to say. She knew for fact that stepping in now would have been the wrong move, even as the insults towards her counterpart hit Penelope with every word.

The last thing this argument needed was a third voice.

Her fingers tightened around Lucy’s wrist briefly as she held her breath. Her responses were as expected. Casual. As if nothing could hurt her. Just as she had been with the psychometrist herself in the past, only this time Penny knew what signs to look for.

And that laugh.

Penny didn’t look as the door closed, the sudden stillness her counterpart took feeling more alarming than anything else. Waiting for her to move, the Brit stood in place. The rise and fall of Lucy’s shoulders with a sigh caused Penny to straighten her back with her own sigh.

But suddenly she was moving away. Penny’s eyes widened at Lucy’s words, and her hand instinctively tightened around the wrist she held. The lightness in her tone didn’t feel quite as bright. And really, how could it be?

“It’s okay to be upset. She’s gone.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

It was supposed to be easier than this. Lucy had every intention of slipping out of her counterpart's grasp and hitting the door almost as quickly as her roommate had. Because she could feel the way her ink practically boiled under her skin; she felt the bared teeth of the lion on her forearm, how he moved like his mouth could articulate definite sounds.

She twisted in place at the sudden halt, her wrist shifting within her counterpart's hand as she now held it between them. It caused Lucy's eyebrows to lower on instinct, her amused expression dissipating in volatile vapour.

"You're welcome." Lucy offered, her tone carrying a bitter edge. It was irksome to have her insinuate that the ink manipulator was upset. But everyone she wore looked just as strained as her tone. Still bitter. Still burning.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Pointing out that Lucy Serrano was upset was – in all honesty – not the best move she could make. Her reaction clearly pointed that out. The bitterness in her tone as sharp as knives, all of which pointed at Lucy now that the previous target had left. Regret wasn’t an option, however, and Penny wasn’t about to make it one.

“Thank you.” Penny offered in return, doubting it was at all what Lucy wanted to hear. Then again, she didn’t want to hear anything. The threat of leaving was still clear in the air as she held onto Lucy’s wrist as the lifeline it was.

She took in a breath, even as it felt like a blade was put to her throat with another move from the way her – their – eyes showed such evident aggression. “You came back just to leave again?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The vote of thanks felt hollow, and Lucy wondered what the point of it was if she likely wasn't going to mean it. It could have been just as easy, she was sure, to step out again. To leave her counterpart in the midst of someone so damaging in their own way.

"Sure," Lucy replied instinctively, "Why not."

She ran her tongue across her lower lip, the strain in her expression growing as she willed the occupants of her arm to just stop. Stop staring. Stop baring teeth. And to stop the mindlessly useless attempt at roaring to a sound she'd never be able to hear.

"Why won't you let me go? What is it this time?" Lucy asked her; there had been several moments over the course of their relationship where the psychometrist has forcibly held Lucy in place. And in every moment, she crumbled in her arms to the beat of her own overbearing emotional process. The ink manipulator had no intention of repeating that cycle again.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny knew exactly how she sounded, even if her tone contrasted with her feelings. She was thankful her counterpart stepped in. As cruel as Lucy was, a definite part of Penny believed her roommate deserved it. But the way in which Lucy spoke drew a harsh response from the Brit.

As it normally would have, Penny’s gaze didn’t drop to Lucy’s lips as she ran her tongue along the length of them. Her jaw clenched at the question, feeling as if Lucy knew the answer but was waiting to pick apart anything Penny offered in response as she did so well.

So she didn’t say anything – not immediately. Instead the psychometrist took a step forward, all while wondering if Lucy would take a matched step backwards to maintain distance. Still, as she did so, she looked town to the silently roaring lion.

And she stared – only for a moment too long before dragging gaze back up to her dark eyes. Her lips parted with every intention of speaking, but as she tried to will the words to pass her mouth, she was reminded again at how well Lucy played this game.

So she breached the distance left between them, pulling her wrist to try and draw her closer as she kissed the Lucy.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy waited; easy as it likely would have been to forcibly pull her hand away, she didn't. It wasn't as simple as it was months ago. She loved this girl - denying her felt harsher than being told she couldn't genuinely love her.

She took a shallow breath as Penny dropped her gaze. She couldn't control the lion as much as she could control herself, and her British counterpart surely knew that by now.

But she wanted her to say something; to give her something to respond to. Lucy felt that roaring eagerness as Penny dropped her jaw, intent to speak.

What she got, she didn't expect.

She couldn't expect it, and so she had no clear way to respond. Instincts overcame her and Lucy wasted no time reciprocating the perfect way she chose to kiss her; sweet despite the cloud of bitterness the Australian carried overhead. It would have been so rich - to imprint a memory on the very surface her roommate had complained about. Raising her free hand, the ink manipulator felt the burn of the idea at her fingertips; how they briefly hovered over the back of the couch. An inch or so and it would have been there - the perfect sleeper blow to completely rattle Karalie's senses.

But she reached for her instead, the reflex of wanting her close causing her fingers to tighten around the fabric at her waist.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny hadn’t known what to expect when she kissed Lucy – but the Australian never failed to reciprocate before, and she was thankful to feel that same familiar movement again. She felt the desire to release the breath that had been caught in her chest, but doing so would had required some form of distance, and the psychometrist wasn’t ready to give that up just yet.

The reminder that she wished for closeness coursed through Penny’s veins with every pounding beat of her pulse, leaning into the contact as she felt the material of her dress tighten with Lucy’s grip. Her own free hand moved upward, lightly traveling up her arm to her shoulder, and then to her neck. Her jaw, where fingertips settled.

Penny only drew away when she had to, when her body forced the response with the need to release and then take a breath. Even then, she kept distance at a bare minimum, lips parted as they brushed against the ink manipulator’s, and with a slow, sure movement, her hand loosened around Lucy’s wrist, shifting to slip her fingers between hers.

"Take it out on me."