[Open] I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this

[long_live_the_queen]

WHO: Lucy and you!
WHERE: Birch Hills apartment, Freshens, Chata in general, choose your own adventure
WHEN: 6/7
WHAT: Mostly unconscious telekinesis, nbd.
WARNINGS: Lucy (language, cranky behavior)



[It kept happening.

The first day Lucy woke up with a headache she didn't pay it much mind. That's what aspirin was for; take one, go to work, forget about it. It helped soothe the ache in her ankle, too.

A few more days, and she needed two.

And things started being misplaced. Small things like pens or the remote, things she was absolutely sure she picked up, but couldn't recall exactly when. It was rather irritating.

But it wasn't going to stop Lucy from getting to work, or getting some more aspirin. And not talk to anyone about it.]

A. Freshens

[She was serious about that aspirin. But Lucy also stopped to grab a box of cereal on the way to the pharmacy, because she's an adult (by a few months) who wanted some goddamn Cheerios.

While reaching for a box slightly out of reach, a sound from down the aisle distracted her. The box she was reaching for lifted away from the shelf on its own, hovering in the air, held up by nothing—except the faintest glimpse of something translucent on the edge of the box.

Distraction gone, the box dropped into Lucy's actual hand and she put it away in her basket without looking at it.

Nothing to see here.]

B. Chata streets

[Lucy tended to pointedly not get out of the way of people walking at her (particularly if she didn't like them), but usually she didn't actually touch them except on really crowded streets. Get uncomfortably close like she was daring them to move first in an unasked for game of chicken, sure.

Actually blundering into them was not part of the plan—she was aware enough of where she was in space that shouldn't have been an issue. Except right now.

Hopefully they weren't holding anything when Lucy (actually unintentionally) shoulder checked them.]

C. Birch Hills

[Finally, she was home. Picking up aspirin after work should not have been this much of an adventure. The cat immediately trotted up to the door as soon as he heard keys rattling at it, and Lucy had an added feline obstacle to deal with while taking her shoes off. This one, though, she didn't mind.

The grandfather clock abruptly rang as Lucy passed by—just once, but thunderously loud. It made her jump, and startled Fang further into the apartment.]

Ugh.

[Lucy was back, in case there was any doubt.]

Comments

B

[true_noir]

Ooof, excuse moi?

[The exclamation sounded a little irritated, but not that much. Thankfully they hadn't been holding anything at the time, so nothing dropped, but someone had definitely muscled just out of the way and looked at her with a momentary irritation, followed by recognition and mild amusement.]

Oh, Lucy... you are up and about again! How is the ankle. [Oblivious to anything being wrong.]

[long_live_the_queen]

...hi.

[Oh. Chloe. Someone she should probably not rudely shove instead of talking.]

It's fine.

[It wasn't a lie this time! Well. A much smaller lie. It still twinged, but with the painkillers and the brace on she barely noticed it now.]

[true_noir]

[She wasn't going to press. It'd been a couple weeks since they'd seen each other physically, so Chloe hoped she'd kept off of it enough for now. So, instead, she smiled at her and put her hands up and over her head.]

Did I catch you in a hurry, bustling from one place to other? I always wonder where you go in such a hurry. [She might be teasing, just a little.]

[long_live_the_queen]

I'm not a bee.

[A huff.]

I was just getting aspirin.

[Though her headache was starting to come back already. How long ago had she taken the last caplet? Lucy's hand twitched a little, but she resisted rubbing her temple. It didn't really seem to help, anyway.]

[true_noir]

So you aren't, though I do believe you can sting.

[She winked at her and fished around in her hand-bag, pulling out a little bottle. It was one of those travel bottles. If someone was buying aspirin now, then they almost certainly hadn't taken enough today. She offered it with a grin.]

I have some tylenol if you want. I just got off work, though, if you'd like company to the pharmacy. [Nope, she had a chance for Lucy time, and was hoping to take it.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy hesitated instead of immediately grabbing the bottle, though it was tempting.]

Aren't you not supposed to mix those?

[true_noir]

Aspirin and non-aspirin aspirin? [She considered that for a moment. Hmmm, what did she know about medicines? She vaguely recalled it was ok to mix ibuprofen and acetaminophen, but not with any regularity. No, you know what? She had a point.]

If you are taking Bayer, or something like it, then let us not mix that up. [She palmed the bottle.] To the pharmacy?

b

[appraiser]

[ Ryoji isn't holding anything particularly fragile or dangerous, just a bundle of flowers bound together at the stems so that they don't fall apart when they hit the ground, thick wax candles that dent but don't crack when they similarly drop from his arms.

But it isn't because Lucy had run into him, it's the other way around, the barrier that unconsciously jumps up around Ryoji and he jolts it surprise in response, turning to see who— what— ]

Hey. Lucy?

[long_live_the_queen]

[Ow. Did she hit a wall or something? Lucy bounced back like she hit something solid, not vaguely squishy like a person. Her voice was snappish as usual.]

What?

[She knew that voice, and the face it belonged to when she looked up at him. Back up, try again. Slightly less snapping.]

...what?

[appraiser]

Oh. No, it's nothing.

[ The surprise and confusion dissolves with the barrier as it drops and Ryoji kneels where he stands to collect his things, wondering for a moment what danger there was to respond to (idk, maybe her vectors are vaguely menacing, even if he can't see them) because Lucy wasn't (sort of?) a danger to him (anymore? maybe?). ]

...Let me start over. [ He breathes, straightens up, and has that smile back on his face. Too bright. ] Good afternoon, Lucy!

[long_live_the_queen]

[Her vectors are messing up her spatial awareness, it's very rude.]

Stop that. You sound like a tour guide.

[Lucy rubbed at her shoulder, though it took a few tries to place her hand right.]

[appraiser]

[ No, he can't just stop, he's got to do it like this. His smile does falter, though, as he watches Lucy tend to her shoulder, an old buried fear of hurting people with his barrier flaring up again despite her looking okay. ]

...Your shoulder's not hurt too, is it?

[ Too, as in, along with her ankle. But Minako had shoulder problems last month, and Ryoji is acutely reminded of how he couldn't do anything for her back then. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

It's fine.

[The teenager dropped her hand away and rolled her shoulder as if to demonstrate. All in working order!

Something transparent replaced her hand once her arm relaxed at her side again, though. Something just barely shimmery, that creased her sleeve like fingers gingerly prodding at something to see if it was a bruise.]

C; sometime after Evoker shenanigans

[complementing]

Welcome back!

[Is the distant call from the back of the apartment. Minako peeks out of the laundry room, waving to Lucy and then pausing.]

...did something happen?

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy didn't even look up this time, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. She was still holding on to the bag, though.]

Head's killing me.

[The clock had exacerbated the problem, making her head ring like a bell. It wasn't even a well behaved headache; it felt like it came from somewhere in her head, not behind the eyes or at the temples.]

[complementing]

[Minako makes a sympathetic noise and steps out into the hallway, heading right for the kitchen.]

Let me go make you some tea.

[Tea solves all problems.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy mumbled an affirmative and followed, albeit a bit slower and with more slouching.

She set the bag down on the counter, the rattle of the caplets horribly tempting. But she'd taken enough aspirin today. The teenager busied herself putting the cereal away instead, standing on her toes to shove the box into one of the cabinets.

She wasn't touching the door when it opened.]

[complementing]

[Minako has her back turned, getting the tea ready, so she doesn't see. Instead, she opens another cabinet door to peer into the depths of it.]

Any preference on what kind of tea? I have oolong, or darjeeling, or apple...oh, the chamomile is in the back, that might be the best for a headache.

[She strains up on her tippy toes to try and reach for it.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy glanced over her shoulder after the cereal was put away, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. Was the headache getting worse? Ugh. It probably was, knowing her luck.]

Chamomile is fine.

[Minako abruptly has an assistant in her endeavor! ...sort of. There's a distortion in the air that's difficult to make out, and the ceiling light reflected off the edges of something that suggested a...hand?

It reached to the back of the cabinet and picks up a box, though there's a random chance of it being the tea Minako's after, Lucy wasn't looking at it, after all.]

A

[livingdeadgirl]

[Sometimes, Ami likes to stop at the grocery store to pick up a snack on the way home from school. And she just had a really tough math test today, so she figures she deserves it.

The noise from down the aisle - a small child letting out a high-pitched shriek as part of a temper tantrum - catches Ami's attention as well, but what catches it more is a box of cereal moving on its own. It's so brief that, at first, she's not totally sure what she just saw. Is that girl a Retrospectre? She's got pink hair, after all, and it could be like Chloe's purple, and...

The decision is as easy to make as it is unethical. Ami doesn't have to be anywhere in a hurry, after all. She'll discreetly* follow this person to see if she does it again!

*Ami does not have any points in stealth, her idea of "discreet" is "pretend to be going down the same aisle and hope she doesn't notice me staring." And she has absolutely no backup plan in case of actually being noticed. BRILLIANT.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Fortunately Lucy didn't seem to notice she had an extra shadow, stopping in front of the section with jarred spreads. Did they need Nutella?

Well, probably not. No one needed that. But she wanted some. So there.

The shelf was already largely denuded in spots, and badly needed restocking. But there were a few jars shoved in the back of one of the taller shelves. Even standing on tiptoe, getting at them was hard. Lucy grumbled, stretching as far as she could without putting too much weight on the shelf—and that same shimmer appeared around the jar to pull it closer, like grasping fingertips.]

[livingdeadgirl]

[The same large gaps in the stock provided a clear view of the tasty snack sliding into Lucy's hand as surely as if she'd said accio Nutella. Ami's eyes went wide - not with alarm or fear, but fascination - and, immediately dropping any pretense of subtlety, scampered over to her.]

How did you do that?

[long_live_the_queen]

[Like a switch had been flipped, Lucy went from silently getting groceries and impassively regarding everyone around her to immediate hostility because her personal space perimeter had been breached. It sometimes extended to an arbitrary two meters.

In either case, Lucy flinched and recoiled away like she'd just been stabbed with something sharp and potentially electric, instead of just asked a question. The jar was yanked halfway to her body and held up between them almost like an obstacle. A Nutella branded one.]

Do what?!

[livingdeadgirl]

[YIKES! Ami flinched, too, although without the hostility, and she raised her hands as if to show she was unarmed (except for a bag of pretzels).]

Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. I just meant, uh - [She lowered her voice as if it particularly mattered whether anyone overheard.] You moved that without touching it, right? I just thought it was cool.

[long_live_the_queen]

...what?

[At that Lucy blinked, aggression dimming somewhat. She looked at the jar in her hand, at the person talking to her, and at the shelf—like an answer was somewhere between all three.]