Cold War

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Winter break was almost over; a week until classes started up for both the ink manipulator at Hammel and Penelope for university. Still, without classes currently in session, Penelope struggled. Academics were a major part of her life, and part of the Brit would always miss having class to a certain extent. It kept her busy. Held her focus on days like these.

Because Lucy was working, which left Penelope Blaise without the two things that kept her grounded. Her fiancé and her schoolwork. Things proved problematic without either.

The bright side was that a certain Southern roommate was missing for the holidays. More likely than not, praising the Lord in some part of the lower United States. It didn't matter what she was doing, she was gone and that was what seemed to matter most of out of it all.

It made it possible to be within the dormitory for extended periods of time. More specifically, it meant she could clean it. Penny hadn't spent any significant amount of time in there for weeks now, and it certainly showed. Hours were spent detailing the common room, so much that it took longer than expected.

By the time she finished, her phone was ringing.

Within minutes, Penelope was opening the door of the common room where it lead into the hallway. A sleeved arm around a few books, her other hand was preoccupied with the phone pressed to her ear. There was only one person Penelope Blaise picked up the phone for. There was only one person who could make her blush like that.

"I am literally closing the door now, there's no need to--" A brief pause as Penny faced the door, drawing it closed with a reassuring click, unaware of any other presence around. "No, don't-- Lucy? Did you seriously? That's not even funny."

[Lucas Blacke]

He wasn't going to move forward much more, he had looked up a room to do a certain something and wanted to see if it had been succesful, which, when reaching the door to the room he had looked up he noticed it had with a smile. This would definitely earn him points.

Maybe he should knock and see if- He halted his balled up hand just at the right time before knocking and brought it back to scratch the back of his head. He wanted to do this, he did, but certain confusion had set in. Right now he wasn't sure what the best choice was, who made him happy.

And so he decided to go back for now, enjoy the confusion that scurried around in him a bit more. Where there had been three people before there were now two with plenty of people around him who had told him what he felt about it all. Normally it'd annoy him to have people lead his life but in on certain situation he accepted it and made the idea his own, or was desperately trying to.

Maybe she'd have some more stuff to say, some more hidden gems. Perhaps they could even get along were it not for sadness overtaking him every five minutes right now. This made him figure he'd need to at least look out for this girl, he had stuff to say and, while he wasn't happy with the thought, he would have to apologize.

He turned around and was going to leave the dorm when he heard the sound of someone talking and opening a door behind him. Out of instinct he turned around to see who it was, almost as if he had friends in the girls dorm. He did have one, but she wasn't one to just step out. Besides, he hadn't seen her in a while. He quickly realized was that the door that opened belonged to a familiar room, but she was gone for the holidays, right? And there was only one other person he had ever seen in there. And quickly enough he recognized this girl stepping out as the only other person he had ever seen in there. He grew a small grin and began moving in her direction.

When he got close he noticed she was still talking into a phone, and while this did calm Luke down a bit it didn't stop him completely. When he got to her he paused a small bit before saying anything because she was on the phone and suddenly began connecting these small little dots that were floating around in his mind. She knew Karalie, obviously, and that broad from before knew Karalie, or captain hetero, so maybe she and this stick-up-her-butt girl knew each other. No matter how slim the chance, he needed to take it.

But not before taking the obvious Luke-route.
''Not a girl, still here.'' He told her despite her having the phone still plastered to her ear. ''Balls in yer court now.''

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

With her back turned to the rest of the hallway, Penelope assumed it was empty. A bad assumption brought on by a flustered state. The Brit couldn't help but to hold all her focus on the person who was on the other end. It was no doubt that she liked it that way, too.

So she drew the door to a complete shut, taking another step backwards when suddenly a voice cut through the air, and it wasn't Australian accented. More, it a voice belonging to a boy. On the girl's dormitory floor.

As if he knew the first thing that'd come out of her mouth, Penelope turned to him, dark eyes narrowing on the boy as she kept her phone to her ear. A short glare to him as she looked back to the door, partially to hide the flustered state of her cheeks and partially to pull her keys out and make an actual effort to lock it.

At one point she had been the only person to do such an effort, but it felt strange to go through the motions on that one particular door again. A year later.

"No, it's fine." The Brit spoke into the device at her ear as she sucked in a forceful breath. Finally, she looked back to the boy. "It's locked, you might as well return to a floor you're permitted on."

[Lucas Blacke]

He raised his hand and brushed the little bit of skin under his nose just like Bruce Lee used to do, he was preparing for a fight because he knew that this girl was pretty stuck up. Still, her answer that was thrown his way sounded pretty human and he felt he needed to take advantage of this. He chuckled a bit though, how long had it been since they had that same falling out? He hadn't been able to take it back then, but he sure as hell was going to try again and again until he was by annoying the absolute shit out of her. Might be fun for him as well.

But this was not the main reason of him storming up to her, he reminded himself with a quick shake of his head. Her reaction was about the door being locked and that he shouldn't even try, though the joke was on her at this time because he had no reason to try. Seriously, he was her boyfriend, why would she assume he wasn't aware of the fact she was with her family for the break? He was reminded of it constantly, really. One of the things he really disliked was anyone doing anything with family, though this could have been because he had no real family himself.

''Ya mean the dorm with boys and girls?'' He asked her. ''Naw, too much competition down there.'' He tried to joke, though he was sure she wouldn't see it as one.

''I actually wanted to talk to ya. I think ya know somethin' I would like to know.''

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Not understanding the reference, Penelope assumed the intruder was simply wiping his nose without a tissue, a reaction which received another judgmental look from the psychometrist. She didn't know why he was there, or if he was even aware that Karalie was gone. Penelope wasn't one to keep up with gossip, but even she knew of the messy breakup between her roommate and the idiot. Both of them were idiots, really.

Regardless of his intentions, she wanted to insure he wouldn't enter the dormitory she just spent hours cleaning.

It was always considered rude to hold two conversations at once, specifically while on the phone, but Penelope refused to hang up the call. He had interrupted, and thus deserved the treatment.

Shifting the books under her arm, she pulled them in front of her chest, hugging them to herself as she looked at the other without amusement. "Well, I don't want to talk to you." She replied flatly, taking the first of the necessary steps that brought her to the staircase. Again, into the phone she continued. "I'll be there in a minute." Before hanging up.

[Lucas Blacke]

Luke chuckled. Predicaments, how fun. It wasn't that much of a surprise she didn't want to talk to him because, well, who did? Except for people who liked to have fun of course. But even before he had begun talking to her she had been going through his mind several times because he was odd like that, everyone he had ever met would be thought about at least once or twice, and the obvious verdict for the two was that they wouldn't get along. Luke did serious, sure, but she made it into an olympic scale game and that was something he didn't appreciate, you needed some jokes to be thrown in there or else it'd just be mindnumbingly boring.

Still, he was going to try not to fuck this up by saying something really off. He did need something after all which he actually did not like to think of, him wanting something this thing had. ''That's fine, ya just need to listen.'' He told her finally as he figured he'd be able to see her reactions to whatever he said. He hadn't been trained in it or anything but paying attention to movement meant paying attention to something as minute as breathing. Surely he'd find some kind of muscle contraction.

''There's this girl I've been wantin' to speak to. She somehow knows captain he- Karalie an' I figured that maybe ya'd know her too, common ties an' jazz.'' He said without expecting any answer in return as he stepped up to her to monitor any small change in her face. Oddly enough most of them were almost telling him to get away. Almost.

''Sensin' some hostillity 'ere.'' He joked. ''Is fine, I'll just follow ya from a distance than. Take me to yer leader.''

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

A minute. If even it'd take that long to reach the ink manipulator's dormitory, where she wasn't sure just what state she'd find her counterpart in. Regardless, she wasn't set on taking her time with her pace. There were places to be and she'd already forgotten about the boy she only just spoke to.

Until he spoke again. Wasn't it made clear she didn't want to converse with him? Was it all men that struggled to understand the basics of conversing, or just this particular one? She was set on continuing to ignore him, refusing to falter in her step, especially when the name of her roommate was brought up. That was the last thing she wished to deal with in that particular moment.

Not paying attention to exactly what he was saying, Penelope missed the connections that might have formed. He wanted to talk to someone, and that had little to do with her. In fact, she was grateful for it; easier to just drop the conversation completely.

But he was still following her. She hadn't made it even halfway between her door and the staircase before she finally turned back to him, expression as serious as ever. "Do not follow me." A direct approach as her fingers curled around her phone again. "Would you like a reminder as to how our last conversation went down?" The treat of a useless dorm monitor, hardly effective but worth a shot.

[Lucas Blacke]

He loved how she simply didn't address him even as he followed her, though the silence did leave him open to see where they were going. While he didn't know the exact end point of the trip he would no longer have to follow her, and if she was to comment on him following her he would have the necessary ammo to fight back. And obviously she would just spend a moment ignoring him before turning around and telling him he should stop following her, like that was even an option. But she had probably guessed the same as she slowly reached for the same phone she was just on.

It took him a moment but it finally dawned on him what she was talking about when she mentioned their last conversation. ''Ain't we- sorry, ain'tcha goin' out of the girls dorm?'' He asked with a bold assumption. ''Wouldn't that like, null the use of a dorm monitor?'' He now smiled because he thought he had her cornered, but as experience would tell him he had he everything but cornered.

''Besides, I ain't followin' ya.'' He said as he stepped back with a shake of his head. ''Not anymore.'' He added as a joke.

''I'm goin' to my own dorm, an' ya happen to be goin' the same way. Don't tell me that ain't exactly what ya wanted.''

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy expected one thing when she got home from work that afternoon, and that was Penelope Blaise. She had the keys to Lucy's room. And while she never locked it, it still gave her the freedom to be there waiting. When she wasn't, it was the ink manipulator who called her. It was the ink manipulator who quickly spoke about what they could be doing in that moment. And it was the ink manipulator who said she was prepped to take her own clothes off when Penny seemed to get interrupted.

Was that a male voice? No, that seemed a bit stupid. Did it?

She quickly left at the hang up, bra-clad in skinny jeans and the usual boots with her shirt in her hot little hand.

Fast steps carried her through the co-ed dorms hallway without a real thought. There were certain places her mind would wander to in any given moment, but crossing that distance was the most important thing, now. So she hit the stairs with an obvious sense of a faster pace to her steps. And once she rounded the corner she saw her.

"Hey- Woah." Them. Raising her free hand, she held her palm towards her counterpart and the clear individual in her presence, "You are inviting fellas now?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

This was getting very annoying very fast. Her fingers curled tightly around the phone; if he was smart - which she doubted - he'd just leave then, and Penny would find herself fortunate enough not to have to call the least authoritative person she'd ever encountered. The threat of a dorm monitor remained, however useless as she was, and that was what mattered.

She was about to argue and point out that the boy had only just stated he was following her, and regardless of where she was headed, they were most certainly not on the same track. A swipe of her thumb and she unlocked her phone, making the threat clearer than ever, but before she could even manage a word a familiar accent filled the air.

Her head snapped in Lucy's direction, dark eyes meeting those equally so, but only for a mere second, because there was the usual grateful sense of relief that Lucy was near, but there was also the fact that the ink manipulator was missing her shirt. And she looked. Caught staring, no doubt by the person she faced, the Brit felt her jaw tense.

"Wha-" Eyebrows furrowed together. "No. No." A quick step brought her closer to Lucy, voice dropping. "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

[Lucas Blacke]

His eyes fell upon the one he'd been wanting to see, though perhaps a bit more than he hoped to see. Not that he minded it in the least as his jaw fell open, though mostly out of exaggeration in the sense that a girl was half naked in front of a guy. Sure, she was holding a shirt but she wasn't using it to cover anything except her hand, and only slightly so.

He wanted to say he wanted to thank her for before but didn't get the chance to as the other girl stepped forward and addressed the half naked one as if the girls were talking and gossiping and stuff, though this was more loudly and he doubted that the stale one of the two was capable of gossip. Still, he was a bit confused as to why this happened and simply left them alone for a moment as he wondered what it could be.

Likely it was that she had seen her mistake and had been stalking him or some shit, waiting for the right time to jump out at him and seduce him, and the other one wanted a piece of him as well. Though this was only the first thought in his mind he would have trouble even considering the reality of those two. As much as he was a guy and adored those girl on girl videos he just could not see it happen for real. He couldn't, and if it did happen to be a real thing the two girls in front of him certainly wouldn't be a -no, they were far too different in how they spoke alone.

Finally he coughed and tried getting their attention. ''I don't know whats goin' on 'ere, but I'd like to join in if that's okay?''

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

It was, in truth, a really bizarre thing to piece together. Lucy took herself out of the mix entirely, instead focusing on why Penny might even remotely engage in a conversation with Captain Hetero's one and only treason party. Her defective recruit.

Dark eyes flicked their attention to Penny, first. The corner of her mouth dragged into a knowing smirk at the dropped level of her gaze; one she quickly picked up with the paces she took towards the ink manipulator. "Cause I took it off. I said that on the phone." She replied, raising her eyebrows once, "It's why you're blushing."

With a wave of her hand, she motioned the stress on her features away, "Chill out, I brought it with me."

For good measure, she waved it in her hand idly.

And really, she was glad she left when she had. Penny had the social graces of a notoriously pissed off dragon. What Lucas said caught the Australian's attention completely. She pressed her lips into a hardened line to try to keep herself from laughing, but the amusement at his request was far too evident.

"Stalking the dorm?" Lucy asked, taking a definite shot in the dark as her eyes dropped to the shirt she unfurled in her hands. "Y'know she'll know. But you know that. Gonna leave her a message saying you might kinda sorta maybe possibly love her a little bit?" Inadvertently, the Australian scoffed at the thought before she exhaled on that laugh she was trying so weakly to keep at bay.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

As her gaze worked back up to Lucy's eyes, she felt it snagged on the corner of her mouth. That smirk that proved the ink manipulator knew exactly the trajectory of her line of sight. Barely a second later, she met the Australian's eyes. Amusement wasn't easily found in her expression, and as Lucy explained just why she was wearing her shirt, the Brit resisted the urge to groan in frustration.

That was hardly a reason to keep it off. Because she was caught staring. Blushing. For once she didn't argue the color in her cheeks, because she was far to focused on the idea that another set of eyes were on her counterpart.

"Then why don't you put it on?" Penny suggested, almost aggressively as she looked to the fabric in Lucy's hand. Before she could manage more, the boy called out again, offering an example of exactly why Penny wished her Australian to be fully clothed. She shot a glance over her shoulder to him, dark eyes narrowing with frustration that only Lucy Serrano could bring out in her, even if it wasn't directly her fault.

"Go away." A fine example of Penelope Blaise and her exquisite social graces.

[Lucas Blacke]

He was still wondering even as he looked at the girl with no shirt. He needed to talk to her but.. he was distracted by things. He had forgotten all about why he got there or why he was even looking for her as she and the stuck up one continued talking as if he hadn't even inteerjected, as if he didn't exist. Which in this case would be fine with him as it allowed him to focus on the shirtless girl.

She was there for him, right? That was the only possible reason, wasn't it? Why else would she be half undressed and bumping into him? Girls did stuff like that to get attention, didn't they? He could give her attention and she would likely have known this. So when he asked what he did he wasn't exactly expecting a talk or anything else. He knew there were two girls but maybe they'd team up, a mother/daughter kind of fantasy with the extremely strict mother. He'd enjoy that.

But what he didn't expect was her to address him on why he was there and that she'd know. It took him only a few seconds to figure out what she meant, or who she meant and offered a smile. ''That ship's sail-''

As he was in the middle of his sentence the other girl looked over her shoulder at him and shot him quite possibly the dirtiest look he had ever gotten. Luckily Lucas had been known to be able to survive a death glare.

''Make me.''

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"I'm working on it." Lucy replied, dark eyes refusing to waver from the material in her possession as she eased hands into it. "No idea why you're complaining." Really, it was probably the first time the psychometrist had ever complained over the shirtless ink manipulator. She seemed to like the proximity to the detailed lettering on her ribs. Or the broad Wonder Woman at her back.

Or was it the fact that the wings at her hips peeking out from the line of her low jeans weren't so stagnant? Beating to a slower rhythm instead.

The corner of her mouth dragged down at the idea that the ship had sailed. It was for the better, and surprise coloured her dark eyes at the idea that he might have actually understood that when she all-but said it the other day. But Penny was snapping, or breathing fire and he was taking that fire to heart. Make me.

She laughed. Her tongue raced her lower lip at the recollection; the words given had once left her mouth, too. Eleven fifty-nine on Valentine's Day. But she was hardly being asked to leave.

"Nah, the hallway's fair game." She replied, hauling arms through the shirt in her hands. Drawing it up over her head, she allowed the material to fall, hands reaching the hem moments later to completely cover the laser gun tattoo hilt that settled at her hip, like a genuine weapon tucked into her physical jeans. "If you don't wanna play, you don't have to stay."

Of course Penny would, she knew. Reaching forward, she momentarily pressed a hand to the side of her counterpart's face. For someone who liked to argue, she sure wasn't feeling it. So as she glanced towards Lucas again, that same hand worked its way around the psychometrist's neck, resting over her shoulders.

She tilted her chin up a fraction; "What?"