Cold War

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

It seemed the boy was stalling, having instead focused on whatever implications he created in his mind rather than getting to his point. Again, he motioned to her, and again her eyebrows twitched upwards silently. In her mind, she wasn't sure how he made the connection between Lucy - one with many connections - and herself so quickly. She had a network of people who could have very well had memory based abilities. It wasn't something she spoke about, especially to strange boys who stalked people down in hallways.

As Lucy removed her arm, Penny's fingertips dragged across the small of her back before bringing her hands to herself, hand moving back to the books settled in her other arm. Surely this would be over soon, and even without the Australian physically next to her, she'd stay until she was ready.

That was, until Lucy spoke.

Obscenities were something Penelope was growing familiar with - it wasn't all that long ago that Penny insisted that Lucy shouldn't try to change the way she spoke, even if every curse dragged a reaction out of the Brit. However, certain lines needed to be drawn, and she'd never heard that word come out of her mouth before.

Dark eyes widened as she felt tension shoot up through her back and neck, flowing into the way she clenched her jaw. A spare set of seconds and she forced a breath to calm her features. "Don't be long." She said straightforwardly to Lucy, even if her back was facing the psychometrist. Without acknowledgement to the boy, she turned on her heel and went for the staircase door.

[Lucas Blacke]

''Aaaand the touching's done!'' He said while barely stifling a laugh as the stick one took off, probably because she heard the other one use a word she didn't like or something. That or she was bored as fuck. Probably the latter but he wouldn't let them know he thought himself boring enough to even bore the most (what he assumed) emotionally dead person. She was the first one he had never wonder about seeing outside of classes more often, where she would be. The other one he didn't either obviously, but he had met the stick first. ''All over a tiny word which ain't even my own meat.'' He joked. He didn't really care what he was called as long as it was just a shot at him and hurt no one else. But she'd already gotten her free shot, and she just used her second one despite him just wanting to say thanks. Why didn't she just accept the thanks and move on?

He took a moment though, mulling things over, wondering about what she said and how to respond as the other one was starting to take off. He could tell her the truth of the situation, but there were two truths at the moment. The one about what she said, and the one about what he was doing at the moment. The latter one would cause him to share a pretty deep secret though, so maybe he'd refrain from telling her that one for now. After all, he deemed it time to actually answer one of her questions for now.

Or not.

''Pole up my ass?'' He smirked, it was a pretty huge turn for him to be called the one with something up his ass. ''Aye, 'spose that's 'bout right. I'm the only one 'ere with a dick to shove in somewhere.'' He nodded even as he knew she wasn't talking about that, but a pole. Still, the link between the things wasn't entirely farfetched. ''An' I can break down for ya if ya want. 'Cause, if ya hadn't noticed yet, I'm a very negative person. An' to hide that shit from people I've taken up acting. Aye, I've actually gone to school for it. Yer the second one to know an' stick over there is number three.''

He'd told her, and even still she was maintaining the high ground. But that didn't keep him from trying to turn it around. ''I can stop actin' for a moment an' break down for yer royal arse if ya so desire, or I can turn into somethin' that will hunt ya down. An' believe me, I can. So ya just shut yer pretty little mouth for now an' stop addressing me like yer better.''

He smiled as he continued. ''I mean, we both know ya are, but things can change like-'' He snapped his fingers.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Unaware of her reasoning, Lucy didn't look when Penny addressed her. She didn't glance back when she stepped away; she knew where she was going. And had she known the little word she offered as casually as she had would be the catalyst for that movement... She probably still would have said it anyway. It was an awesome word.

A small twitch to one eye for the response that didn't really make much sense. They were going in wayward directions, or maybe he just really needed to point out that of the pair, he had the pointed junk. The balls to back it up would have been nice, too, but Lucy suspected they were sitting pretty in a certain homophobe's trophy case.

Or a voice mimic's. Whichever.

"I don't give a right fuck what you want, mate." Lucy replied, dwindling all the ideas about acting better or breaking down or being hunted into nothing. "You want the truth of it? You did a really shitty thing." But he knew that. And she knew he knew that. That wasn't the point, "That doesn't make you a shitty person. It just makes you a person. But what does make you a shitty person is acting like you don't give a fuck about it."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Precise steps brought Penelope to the door as the boy spoke - going off about inappropriate matters and how that somehow made him special. She had to resist the urge to roll his eyes; it was typical of a man to feel the need to point it out. As if it was helping his case at all.

Her fingers curled around the handle, careful to suppress the memory that it held - likely the ink manipulator who used the door just minutes ago herself. She faltered, however - or rather, she stalled - upon hearing the boy speak to Lucy in the manner he did. Dark eyes glanced back in time to catch a snap of his fingers.

Her own lips quickly parted, but before an accented word could pass her lips, hers filled the air. A prior conversation reminded Penny that no mattered how much she wanted to pipe up and speak out, Lucy was very much capable of handling herself. She was - if anything - the best at it. Letting her own protective nature interfere wasn't the best option, at least not in that moment.

So she brought her lips back together, pressing them into a hardened line as she pushed the door open and stepped out of the hallway.

[Lucas Blacke]

Luke laughed. She wasn't backing down, was she? He didn't know if he liked that or not. But she'd brought out those truths again in a way that got through to him, but sadly enough it was a truth he already knew this time. He simply shrugged at the statement of the act defining him and ran his hand through his hair as he looked at her. ''So it is.'' He responded while trying to keep his shields up the best he could, he was dangerously low on them after he had that small burst before. That wasn'to say he would do it, but he could. He was just that damn good.

That was about the moment the stick one tried to leave, or actually did leave. He couldn't say he was going to miss someone who didn't speak up, though this did make him realize how he was acting, often enough his entire demeanor would change depending on who he was with at that time. Perhaps if she left he'd do worse thing and he kind of didn't want that, but he wasn't about to speak up and make her stick around.

So obviously he turned his attention back to the one who did talk and smirked. Admittedly fake, but it was a cover, he was allowed to be as fake as he wanted. ''Aye, I feel like shit 'bout it.'' He responded with a nod. ''But whatcha want me to do 'bout it? Go 'round cryin' all day? Wait, that is whatcha want ain't it? Ya want me to break down and show how human I am just so ya can throw that in my face and walk off with the satisfaction of breakin' the school douche. Clever.''

He kept his distance. She was telling him the truth and he knew that, but she did make his blood boil. ''Take the time to get to know me an' I might do just that, but yer gonna need my trust for that. I don't just show myself to everyone.''

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

There were a myriad of things that built in Lucy's mind. Definite things she wanted to question. Anyone who referred to themselves as the school's anything were usually relatively minor blips on the proverbial social radar. She so desperately felt the draw to point that out, because she herself was Lucy Serrano, and up until not too long ago he was that guy who lived with her best friend Rowan.

She didn't. She ran her tongue across her lower lip to try and draw out a different sentiment instead.

But to assume she wanted any kind of satisfaction from his failures was stupid. To press on and talk about trust? More so. She took a deep breath and sighed heavily.

"I dunno what's so hard to catch about that fact that I don't give a right fuck." She replied, pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows as if the confusion only mounted by the moment. "I'm not gonna throw shit in your face, cause I don't know you. I'm not gonna work to earn your trust, cause I don't want to." Pausing momentarily, she folded her arms, "And I didn't need to when you lost your shit the last time I spoke to you."

And as she spoke the words, she wondered if that was the point. "If you wanna pretend that shit didn't happen, that's on you. If that's it, then don't come looking for me." Lucy added, rolling her shoulders in the form of a quick shrug, "But if you want to talk to me like I'm the only one who makes shit make sense to you, then you make me believe it. Don't tell me you're thankful for some shit you don't even seem to believe in. And don't talk to my girlfriend, cause I guarantee she somehow gives less of a fuck about you than I do." Given the current low standards pertaining to his prior actions, she must have sounded as if a lower level wasn't possible, "And that shit ain't doing you any favours."

[Lucas Blacke]

''I know ya don't give a fuck, no one does. But,'' He took a short breath, adjusting his posture, taking in her words as he thought about his next. ''Yer the most... real person I know, even if I know nothin' 'bout ya.'' Her words did hold something of a hidden punch, that little added oomph that made them stick more easy. Luke did have trouble remembering the spoken word as he could just get by remembering lip movement, but with her.. she made it worth listening. ''Yer words mean all that more to me 'cause ya don't care. Someone who does care sugarcoats stuff, somethin' ya don't partake in an' I have thanked ya for.''

So he didn't use those exact words when thanking her, but the idea behind it was made pretty obvious now he felt. He felt a smile, although fake, coming on as she went on about how she wanted him to make her see. ''I ain't pretendin' it didn't happen. I'm keepin' my emotions in there.'' He tapped at his temple. He was the best at keeping them in, the sad ones at least. ''It did happen an' I just don't want people knowin' it gets me down.'' He smiled. Not more than anyone had already known though. The tears shed that no one would see. Numerous.

''Makin' ya believe that though..'' Well that was up to her, wasn't it? He just had his words, and what she said only really made him think she needed to see tears in order to believe it was real. But for that to happen she'd need to spend more time with him or make her words sting a little less. ''I can't make ya believe anythin', yer a person with yer own mind, what ya do is not mine to decide.''

He shook his head. ''I don't need any favors. I just need someone to tell me what's what.'' Same thing? Maybe.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

A real person. The idea within itself was honestly a little worrying. Lucy had to admit, her instincts first went to ask who he was hanging around that wasn't being real enough with him, but her mind caught her before her mouth could win that race. Besides, it wasn't the point. They were talking about objectivity, now. Over a subjective mind. And that, despite everything else, was something the Australian was relatively good at.

Her fingers drummed along the edge of her arm as she listened. With the psychometrist who clearly disdained him - or perhaps simply nothing'd him - out of earshot, she felt underlying tension dissipate from the back of her mind. She didn't like when people spoke to Penny, it was true. Because she knew that most, if not all of the time, Penny didn't want to be talked to. She didn't like people hanging around her, unless it was Lucy. And even then Lucy was sure she'd found the means to break that comfort barrier too many times as it was. "If you really want someone to hear you out who's gonna kick your ass about stuff, then okay. Because that's all I know how to give." Never the warm type, really, Lucy had no idea how to approach an individual about their issues in any other way. There was little stereotypical comfort to be found in her, and clearly that was the point.

"And my name's Lucy. Serrano." She pointed out finally, "Most people know that already." And if he ever asked, she was relatively certain most people could point him in her direction on any given day.