poly_chromatic

Entry tags:

original character - lucy locke

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[ Lucy's flat seems to have exploded. Things are stacked and piled seemingly at random. She's wearing a baseball cap backwards and she's got an old tee shirt on and cut off jeans. Her hair is in pigtails and there's a variety of cleaning products scattered about. She's right in the middle of a top to bottom cleaning and organization spree of her flat. She's sitting on the floor amongst a riot of books and knickknacks with a glass of something iced at hand. ]

Hi. So...this seems like an appropriate time to ask. I need opinions and sounding boards for likely highly illogical ramblings of the relationship kind.

Any and all applicants will be considered?

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Your method is interesting.

[It sounds like he's going to add more, but he just... doesn't.]

[ she catches that. she's not sure what it means. ]

Is it? I guess I just like getting everything out on the floor so I can clean it and put it back where I want to.

[ Her brow furrows and for a moment it seems as if she's going to say something else. She even opens her mouth to say something then scrubs her hand over her face, pushing her hat off her head and straightening her hair a little. ]

I--it feels like I get the corners all clean that way.

[ That's...not what she was going to say. ]

If it is effective...

[He trails off lamely. Not talking about things is almost harder than going ahead and bringing them up.]

Lucy. We did promise to talk soon.

[ The relief that he finally mentioned it washes over her. She wasn't certain that he still wanted to talk. She smiles tentatively and nods. ]

I'll get cleaned up and we can talk somewhere public, but I don't promise I won't make a scene. [ That's accompanied by a smirk that is meant to show that she's teasing. She's not sure how well it comes off. ]

We can also talk here if you don't mind the place being a wreck.

[Whew--he's just relieved that she's willing to talk. Teasing is good, too. That means things might be okay.]

Maybe we should go to a restaurant. If you want to break dishes while you're making a scene, they should be someone else's.

[ Teasing is kind of necessary, otherwise she's just going to talk in halting, rambling sentences.

His comment makes her laugh. ]

Okay. I'm gonna need a little while to clean up.

[This is off to a promising start.]

Let me know when you're ready. No hurry.

[ There was no way she was going to meet him to talk about their relationship looking like this. Heck, her mother would have a fit if she went to the grocery store looking like this, much less on anything resembling a date. Good Southern girls did not go out in public without makeup on and their hair a mess.

Besides, makeup, clothes and hair were all armor to her. She was going to need all the courage she could get for this talk. It wasn't going to be a bad talk, but she was going to have to make some confessions about her emotions. Jimmy's advice had been good and she was going to try and use it in their talk. ]

Give me an hour. I can meet you somewhere if you want.

I can do that. Maybe we should meet somewhere quiet? One of the smaller cafes on the central square?

[He has no idea what she's going to do for an hour--hiding behind clothes is a relatively foreign concept to him, unless the clothing in question is a uniform. It'll be nice to have that extra time to sort out his thoughts, anyway.]

Quiet is good. Better than busy. [ There's a smile on her face even if it is hesitant and uncertain. ] I mean if I'm going to make a scene, I might as well make sure it's quiet so everyone will notice.

That sounds good. I'll...see you in an hour then. [ She starts to say something else then finishes up by waving and cutting the feed on the device.

Really, it's not much different than hiding behind a uniform. For Lucy, pretty dresses, heels and make up is a uniform.

And a few minutes past the hour time limit, she's walking toward the appointed cafe dressed in her uniform ]

Good, yes--in an hour. I will see you then.

[Pavel feels underdressed the moment he locates Lucy. He also feels a burning desire to make a run for it; their brief conversation on the network wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be, which can only mean that the difficulty has yet to come. Confrontation is not one of Chekov's favorite things.

She does look lovely with accents of command gold.]

Lucy, hello. [He smiles nervously and doesn't bolt. Lucy isn't anyone to be afraid of. They'll probably have a perfectly polite, civil conversation like the adults they are.] You look-- [he stops, unsure if he can tell her that she's beautiful when they're technically still fighting] --very well.

[ She's really glad he didn't make a run for it because that would have been awful. Lucy does okay with confrontation in a quick fire sort of way. If she hits confrontation when her emotions are running high, she's all over it, but if she's had time to think about it, she backs down from it.

As fro Chekov being underdressed, Lucy really couldn't care less. She focuses on her own clothes and lets everyone else worry about theirs as well. Besides, she likes the way Chekov looks. She ducks her head at the light compliment and smiles just as nervously. ]

You look very handsome as well. [ And she's just going to stand there, hands together in front of her to keep herself from hugging him. They're broken up. She's not allowed to hug him anymore. ]

[Can't really go wrong with jeans and a t-shirt with I FAILED THE TURING TEST printed on it.]

Thank you. [There's a prolonged pause while he tries to figure out what to do with his hands. Usually when he's around Lucy, there's plenty of casual touching--squeezing hands, brushing shoulders; that isn't something they can do now. He shoves his hands into his pockets.] Should we go in?

[ It's a good t-shirt even if Lucy doesn't know what a turing test is.

She is equally as awkward as he is. At some point it's bound to get better. Right? ]

What's a Turing Test?

[ Since it's something they can talk about that might not be awkward. ]

An old idea that came about in the very early days of artificial intelligence. The test--it is a hypothetical test, not a real one--is meant to determine whether or not the subject taking it is thinking. Theoretically, any machine that cannot pass isn't sentient. It's applicable still in my time; there is debate as to whether or not to grant sophisticated androids the rights that would be extended to any conscious, intelligent being. Philosophical debate, mostly, but...

[He shrugs and trails off. For a want of anything better to do with himself, Chekov goes to open the cafe's door for Lucy.]

So this is a joke, although I think that it loses its humor when it's explained.

[ It's obvious once Lucy gets the joke because she smiles broadly, almost laughing silently. ]

Only if someone's heard of the Turing Test. It's totally funnier to me now. Also, I'm pretty sure you could pass it sleeping and hung over.

Thank you for not doubting my sentience.

[He lets one of his hands brush Lucy's.]

[ Lucy wrinkles her nose a little.]

I guess that was pretty dumb to say, huh?

[ Her breath catches a little at Chekov's hand brushing hers and she turns her hand out a bit so that it brushes up against his again. ]

Is this table okay? [ She nods toward one a few feet away from them that's a little off to the side. ]

No, I don't think so.

[It's tempting to just grab her hand and say something about why they're in this situation--something to get them out of it--but he just nods and pulls a chair out for Lucy. Talking is frightening.]

Did something prompt your house cleaning?

[ Part of her wishes that he'd do just that, but then she's not sure she'd be strong enough to actually finish a conversation. Lucy had a way of ignoring things until they blew up. If Chekov grabbed her hand and said anything, she was likely to just grab him and insist they go back to her place and they'd never talk about this. It would crop up later if that happened. ]

My life is in a mess. My house shouldn't be too.

Can I help you make your life less messy?

[As if he isn't part of the problem! But it's simpler to say that than to voice the fact that he wants this relationship even if he isn't sure that they're after the same thing.]

[ Lucy hesitates, eyes cast down. She takes a deep breath then releases it slowly. She bites her bottom lip, finally looking up at him. She nods slowly. ]

I think so. If I could get everything in my brain to get out of the way.

[He nods and sits, folding his hands on the table in front of him the same way the psychological evaluators at Starfleet do. Very seriously:]

Maybe you could tell me what in your brain is in the way?

[ In contrast, Lucy twists the white table cloth on the table in her fingers. ]

Okay. [ She takes a deep breath. ] The City has this way of pulling happy people apart. I mean, sure you get happy for a little while, but then BOOM apart. And I know I left first and I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to and I don't even want to be home because Momma is losing it and she's sad about Daddy all the time and I'd rather be here even with all the crazy. Anyway, I can be passive and let things happen to me or I can be active and control the choices in my life. The problem is that whether I choose to not be with you or whether the City chooses it, we both end up hurt and I don't know which one is better. It all hurts in the end.

[Pavel listens closely, trying to gauge Lucy's feelings. If she honestly thinks that being apart would be less painful for her in the long run, he won't argue. As it is, she seems undecided.]

When hurting is inevitable, I think that it's best to do what will make you happy now. Choosing to do what makes you unhappy is a strange way to use what control you have over your life.

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