She Needs No Army (Sam)

[Ellis Vaccari]

It was always a bit daunting to have to head back to her room after being out for a while. Not that Ellis usually had a problem, but from time to time she couldn't not run into the people she lived with.

Usually, it was okay. She timed her steps well enough and made sure she had the correctly coloured key in her hand before she even bothered to get herself into the common room. And today in her mind was to be no exception. Her fingertips trailed through the various keys she had, stopping at the green-lined one. The common room door. 

She quickly found that having a key didn't matter. It wasn't locked. She hated it when they didn't lock it. Ellis shifted the keyring between her hands, moving to the blue beside the green - the one for her actual door - as she pulled it open. 

"Shit." She swore, dropping the word under her breath as she caught sight of a familiar head of dark hair. Still, Ellis refused to falter in her steps; walking towards her dorm room door. That was the plan. She didn't even bother giving the girl a second glance. Maybe she'd be lucky, and the girl who was far too much for any living person to handle would simply... Leave her be.

Statistically, that was improbable. That never happened.

[Samantha Vaccari]

The common room had been in a state of mess. The Boston wasn't exactly the most organized of students, and when she decided that she had needed to commandeer the common room for her own personal reasons. It wouldn't be the first time she claimed the territory as her own, nor would it certainly be the last. Today, however, she determined that it was needed the space to put together an Ikea desk.

...It really shouldn't have been this complicated.

The instructions, as Sam decided, were completely useless. She would have had an easier time translating Russian than figure out what these poorly drawn hieroglyphics were supposed to say. Various parts of the desk were spread across the floor, and the brunette was sitting on the back of the couch, sneakers resting on the cushion as she stared at the parts in a frustrated concentration.

Even when the door opened, she didn't bother to look up. Her chin rested on her fist as she pressed her lips into a hard line. This was a fucking desk, for Christ's sake. The girl could take apart a car and put it back together again without a problem. But this wooden piece of Swedish shit had the Boston girl completely stumped.

It was only until she heard the familiar voice swear that she actually shifted her attention to the other. Immediately, she grinned over at the blonde. “What's wrong, love?” she raised her eyebrows, swinging her legs around the back of the couch and hopping off of it, starting to walk with Ellis towards her room. “You seem chipper,” she stated before jumping ahead of Ellis, leaning her back onto the door of her room. “You're...mechanically inclined.” she nodded towards the pieces of wood scattered across the floor. “Wanna help me with this fucking thing?”

[Ellis Vaccari]

Ellis truly didn't notice the mess in the common room. One look at her roommate and she was done with the room itself completely; a decent walk and she'd be out of there. But things weren't that simple. Not with her.

She didn't answer the question that was more than likely rhetorical. Or a bad attempt at provoking behaviour. Though, it visible irked her to be called 'love' by someone who did not in fact love her. She tried to actively ignore her, but it was difficult now that she was walking with her. Even that didn't deter her path. Her eyes were on the handle as she made it to the door, but suddenly a body flashed before her eyes and-

Her gaze travelled up slowly. To catch her eyes.

Yes, she was mechanically inclined - if that were how someone might articulate the skills Ellis had - but she had little to no desire to spend time with this girl. Especially when she was so close to her own room. 

"I don't, no." Ellis replied simply, not a hint of negative connotations to her tone. Because honestly, she didn't want to help her. That was a fact. "Move, please. I want to go inside."

[Samantha Vaccari]

It wasn't lost on her the way that Ellis was bothered by being called love. Sam had picked up the twitch of her lip, the slight tensing of her features. It was barely noticeable, but it was still there. She'd have to refer to her as 'love' more often.

Sam wasn't thrown by being ignored, if anything, it encouraged her behavior towards the blonde. Her grin turned into a smirk as she caught her gaze traveling upward. “Checking me out, eh?” she inquired once she caught the other's eyes. “By all means, I don't mind if you do.” she couldn't help but to add in as she leaned against the door, gesturing to herself.

They've been roommates long enough for Sam to know that Ellis wasn't being harsh towards her. She was being honest. Yet the response didn't phase Sam; when had a simple 'no' ever deterred the Boston girl from doing anything?

Still, the blonde was determined to get inside her room. She had even asked nicely for Sam to move. Unfortunately, asking nice did little for the brunette; she brought a hand up, scratching the back of her head, her grin quickly returning to her features. “You could always make me move... ooooor, you could help me out for twenty minutes.” She paused a moment, studying Ellis's features before continuing. “I'll make it up to you, love.”

[Ellis Vaccari]

Very briefly, Ellis found her gaze caught on the way this girl's mouth had curled into something of a more amused expression. She knew something was going to be said before it was. And when it was, Ellis raised her eyebrows. Checking her out? Was she serious? Of course she wasn't.

She never was.

"No." She replied in time, as if the statement itself had confused her. Her eyebrows twitched at the feeling. She was confusing.

Honestly, Ellis didn't expect her to move when it was requested of her, nicely or not. She took a slow breath in at the concept of making her move. It sounded forceful. Too forceful for the blonde. "I don't want to touch you." She said slowly, because to make her move was to become remotely physical, right? "And I don't see how you could make it up to me. You can't return the proposed twenty minutes I'd spend on you."

[Samantha Vaccari]

Something about Ellis and her serious personality always made Sam smile. It was different. Interesting. Cute in a weird sort of way. Which only added to her desire to try and interact with the blonde. She knew very well that she would prefer to do her own thin in her dorm, but Sam was sure that she couldn’t completely hate her company.

…Okay, so maybe she did. Sam shrugged off the thought. That didn’t matter.

“No point denying what you want, Ellis.” She caught sight of Ellis looking at her mouth, and the brunette sunk her teeth into her lower lip, yet her smirk remained even as she did so, eyebrows raising suggestively.

“An exchange. You give me your time, and I’ll give you some of my time. Blowing your mind.” She paused, giving Ellis time to take in the offer handed to her. “Like woah.” Oh, come on. How could Sam resist an opening like that? It was perfect. “Though,” she brought her hand up and rubbed her chin, “It might take longer than twenty minutes.”

[Ellis Vaccari]

"Exactly. If I wanted something, I wouldn't bother denying it." Ellis tried. And really, she did try. But even she struggled to believe her own statement. Not because of who the girl was, but because of who all people were. The subtle, almost confused expression she involuntarily wore likely conveyed signs of doubt. She doubted her own statement, and she didn't like it.

Something about her statement seemed to visibly irk the blonde. It wasn't the reference or the Boston girl's personal attempt at bolstering her own ego. It was her choice of words. Ellis had spent enough of her life surrounded by things that had a penchant for blowing up. When Sam got to the point of musing over the time she'd take for what she might have meant that reference to be, Ellis took a breath. Calming her features.

"No." She said calmly. Evidently, it was her word of choice in dealing with this girl. She crossed her arms with purpose; "It's not an equal exchange if you get what you might want twice."

[Samantha Vaccari]

Sam raised her eyebrows as Ellis spoke, refusing to move from her new found home against the door. The blonde had certain movements that gave hints to how she felt. Really, everybody had them. They were miniscule, but involuntary. The little things that your body reacted to before your brain has a chance to tell it not to.

The skin at the bridge of her nose had crinkled ever so slightly; a sign that she was resisting the urge to disagree with herself. But her eyes. Her eyes were what really gave it away. The blonde's pupils had dilated, not much but enough for Sam to catch it. It was a sign that Ellis had, for a brief second, wanted to shift her focus. Her eyes had prepared to look away. It was a sign of a person being uncertain. “I'm afraid you're gonna have to move me if you want me out of your way.” So of course the brunette had to push her luck with it.

However, Sam's own expression shifted in the slightest when she caught the sudden change in expression. This one seemed far more obvious. Still, Sam watched carefully as Ellis's eyelids rose, her eyes widening slightly. The movement of her muscles as her eyebrows threatened to furrow. Her lips as she sucked in a breathe, and the way the action smoothed out the blonde's features.

But before the brunette could call her out on it, Ellis spoke again, her response snapping Sam out of her thoughts. “Hey, I could just be taking one in the team.” Sam reached out, extending her fingers in an attempt to catch Ellis's jaw. "And it's not like you said you wouldn't enjoy it."

[Ellis Vaccari]

"The aforementioned primary option." Ellis replied quickly. Really, she'd already established the proverbial grounds for this ridiculous ultimatum. Help or force her out of the way. Why she felt the need to reiterate such a thing was beyond her.

Even though she shouldn't have taken any kind of offence to what she'd said, somehow she still did. Her eyebrows raised slightly at the mere concept of taking one for the team. A strange statement to use, of course, but Ellis supposed she understood where she was going. It just felt incredibly jarring. 

"I can't understand why you'd do that if you didn't want to." She said flatly. She didn't like to colour her own tone with confusion when she felt it, but it was always prominent. Ellis idly tapped her fingers against her arm, feeling her chest rise with her next breath, though she wasn't sure why. She dropped her gaze as an unfamiliar hand reached towards her, her eyebrows furrowing at the mere thought of any kind of contact. She was doing this on purpose. Raising her hand in response, she briefly curled her fingers around her wrist with the intention of easing her away before she could make definite contact. She didn't want definite contact.

Before she could get so caught up in being a thing to this person, she decided to move on. "Can't you just ask like a-" The phrase normal person didn't fit. Ellis herself wasn't normal. She knew that by now. And if she didn't, her prior statement made that clear enough in the blonde's eyes. "If you need help, why can't you ask for it?"

[Samantha Vaccari]

The response drew a laugh from the brunette. Even if Ellis was simply repeating herself, the blonde's choice of words were just...she didn't even know.

Something was off with Ellis's reaction. She watched as her eyebrows raised; how she tensed sightly. Sam's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Was she...offended?

“Woah, wait.” she said, not bothering to make an effort to pull her hand from Ellis's grasp. “I was joking,” she hesitated, never exactly being the best at putting people at ease, “I would totally bang you.” She offered another grin, this one a bit more genuine than the last. At least, genuine given the circumstances. “I mean, if you're keen...” She let her fingers reach out for Ellis again. Just as quickly as she tried to be (somewhat) comforting, she was back on track to being her cheeky self. Her free hand reached for her tank top, pulling it up slightly as if she were ready to start stripping right there on the spot.

She halted just as the material went passed her bellybutton, raising her eyebrows as Ellis cut herself off, but as she corrected herself, her fingers uncurled from the material, letting it drop back down. She exhaled a short laugh before shaking her head in disbelief. Was that really what it would take? “Ellis, could you help me put together this desk? Please?” a light sarcasm came through in her tone as she looked back at the blonde expectantly. Like she'd say yes at this point.

[Ellis Vaccari]

The way in which her roommate suddenly started falling over statements was surprising for Ellis. Usually she had a knack for keeping a conversation moving, regardless of what was said to her. This was... Different. And she wasn't sure how to respond to it. Hesitation didn't suit the Boston girl. Ellis raised her eyebrows at her choice in words coupled with the grin she opted to wear. Again, she'd reached out for her. And again, Ellis was making the move to avoid contact by easing her hand away.

But she dropped her gaze when she started pulling at her own clothes. She let her hand go and reached for her other wrist; "Stop."

It was, in truth, a little overwhelming. The way things changed in such an instant. She wasn't used to such a seemingly unnatural progression. "Please." Ellis added a short time later, realising she might have been a bit quick to snap at her.

Letting her go, the blonde brought her own hands together, running her fingernail from one hand underneath one from the other. Anything to pull her focus from whatever it was she'd just stumbled into. She should have been smarter with her choice of words. Better equipped to deal with someone like this. They'd lived together long enough for her to - theoretically - know how to handle this girl's personality. But she was too much, too fast.

Her dark eyes glanced towards the pieces of the desk, laid out on the floor as the question reached her. She detected sarcasm and gave Sam an expected look. It barely counted if she was going to inject something like that.

"Next time, don't-" Ellis paused, taking a purposeful step backwards before turning away from her door and heading towards the mess she'd made; "-Ask me if I want to do something if it's you who wants me to do something."

[Samantha Vaccari]

Sam hadn't been expecting her other hand to be taken hold of, and she used the opportunity to continue her first action, her fingers lightly running along Ellis's jaw before tucking a few strand hairs behind her ear. “And here I thought I was finally gonna get a chance with you...” she sighed dramatically, shaking her head in disappointment.

Yet, as Ellis spoke, Sam heard the stress in her tone; she could see it in the way the corner of her lips moved as she talked. “That's all you gotta say, love.” She offered a light pat on the blonde's cheek before retracting her hand, automatically moving it to pull down her shirt the rest of the way. Honestly, very few ever asked Sam to do anything; they'd fight with her, tell her what she should do, or tell her what she shouldn't do. It did little to deter the Boston girl from doing her own thing, but if asked – not told – to stop, she usually did.

“Maybe I was asking because I thought that you might actually enjoy building desks.” Sam offered. She waited a moment for Ellis to be far enough away from the door before she pushed herself off of it, following the blonde to it. “For all I know, you could want to do it.” Still, she was grateful that her dormmate decided to help. Partially because she actually needed help with the desk, and partially because she counted it as a win for her.

She brought her hand up, scratching the top of her head as she frowned down at the pieces, recalling how frustrating the past hour had been trying to deal with this supposedly simple project. After a few seconds, her dark eyes looked up to Ellis, “It's more complicated than it looks.”

[Ellis Vaccari]

Instantly, Ellis felt her features tense when unfamiliar fingers ran across the line of her jaw. She showed obvious tension in her jaw when Sam made the move to tuck idle strands of blonde hair behind her ear. Her breath managed to - very briefly - catch in her throat, but she exhaled it a mere moment later. Unfortunately, she was all too aware that the girl in front of her had an incredible sense of sight. She didn't even know how to articulate a verbal response. She simply couldn't.

Tentatively, Ellis let her wrist go when she seemed to understand her, though she looked genuinely confused when her hand patted against her cheek. It felt jarring.

"That's irrelevant." The blonde pointed out quickly, running her fingers through her hair as she moved. Whether or not she liked to construct things was hardly important. At any rate, the first thing she did was lean down and pick up the somewhat crumpled instructions the desk had come with. She didn't need to venture a guess to how the paper she held got so dishevelled. Her fingers curled around the corner idly, smoothing it slowly. Purposefully. 

"No, it's not." Ellis replied quickly, glancing back at her briefly before completely turning her attention to what was on the floor in front of her. "These are simple instructions. If you managed to separate everything in a distinct order, it might have made more sense to you." And with that, she made the move to organise things with a better system. By the letter associated. The layout required.

But before she made a definite move to construct anything, Ellis looked back at her. "You can go, if you want." She said lightly, practically handing her the chance to decline spending time with her introverted roommate; "While I do this."

Truthfully, Ellis doubted Sam would want to spend time with her if she wasn't gaining anything in return.

[Samantha Vaccari]

Even if it weren't for her ability, Sam could feel the way Ellis' jaw tensed beneath her fingertips. Yet, there was more. Her breath caught in her throat, just for a second, but it was enough for Sam to notice it in her neck, and even more so, Sam caught sight of her carotid artery beating. It's pulse moved slightly faster. It was more than tension, or at least it seemed that way.

When her wrist was freed, Sam slid it into her pocket, laughing lightly at the blonde's response. “It's not.” Even if it had been irrelevant, Sam would have argued it for the sake of poking fun at Ellis. It was too fun.

She watched as Ellis picked up the crumpled instructions. Sam raised her eyebrows as the blonde's fingers smoothed out the paper, as if it mattered. “Those ain't any good.” she stated simply, stepping to her side and looking at the scattered pieces of wood on the floor. “ They're not simple. It doesn't say shit.” Really. Who came up with these instructions?

It was Sam's turn to subtly react to her dormmate. When stated that she could leave, Sam's eyebrows threatened to furrow together. She straightened her back, bringing her hand up to scratch behind her neck. “Why would I want to leave?” she asked genuinely, the confusion clear in her features.

[Ellis Vaccari]

"It is." Ellis replied in time. She simply couldn't let it go so easily. She never really could.

She resisted the urge to retort against the way she was talking about the instructions. They were solid, sound instructions. A decent glance and she could understand them. Once she'd moved things to the correct order, she was sure it made even more sense. But no, she was still acting like they didn't. 

With her back to her roommate, Ellis missed every physical cue she was offering. Her attention was now completely transfixed on building the desk, and she quickly got to work. For a time, she didn't bother answering the question. It was like she hadn't even really heard it. But her features carried a contemplative expression. She was taking her time.

"Because you don't like me." Ellis replied, her judgement sound. Her voice, unwavering. That was a fact, wasn't it? "Or rather, you don't like spending time with me."