{SCE} Go 'Round and 'Round

[Taylor McCarthy]

{Note:  Takes place at the same time as this thread}


Taylor didn't miss a beat.  The grin he normally carried flashed a trace of warmth when she looked at him before he dropped his gaze to his pack.  "I keep telling you, it's not a name."  He insisted as he squeezed the pack to the floor between his feet.  "It's just an expression.  Like when you Americans say dude, or... whatever else it is you say."  Oh, but Taylor was not done.  Not by a long shot.  


He chuckled a little before turning his gaze back to the girl.  Her reaction to him had been the tamest one yet in spite of the host of unanswered questions that now faced the two of them.  Their last meeting had been less than ideal, what with Taylor being made see a healer before being allowed on the trip (he tried to avoid that appointment as well, but it didn't work).  Regardless of his bodily injuries, the two of them had almost bonded in a way that Taylor couldn't explain.  He cared about Lucy and, as he'd tried to convince her before, truly enjoyed the time they spent together when she wasn't trying to insult him.

"And, anyway, if you're going to insist on it, you should be following your own rules."  He peered at her with a playful smirk.  "Because I'd been meaning to ask you.  Who's 'Teddy'?"

[Lucy James]

"Then it shouldn't be a problem for you to stop using it," she argued. Unless he of course wanted her to call him 'potato fucker', because she could make that into an expression if that was really how he wanted things to be, and really 'luv' sounded so stupid with that stupid accent of his. Dear lawrd.

Oh, but that wasn't all the boy was ready to dish out. Not by a long shot. Lucy's head snapped to the side to look at him. Her expression changed into a scowl then. "That was once, so you can hardly use that against me." And it had been in a moment of weakness too. Seriously, did this boy remember everything? Hadn't that bump against his head given him amnesia or something? Oh how she'd hoped... "So, I am following my own rules, thank you very much."

She almost snorted at that as she turned her head again to look out through the window. Her hands went up to her shoulders, resting idly on her collarbone as she started chewing on her bottom lip.

[Taylor McCarthy]

"Oh, come now." Taylor wasn't pouting, he never did, but he was as close as one could get to it as he gave Lucy a light nudge with his elbow. "Don't be like that. I think we've gotten past this part of the game." The words came out with Taylor's usual, playful demeanor although there was a certain softness that could be felt in the inflection of his voice. They'd been around in circles so much it was getting tiresome. She would never admit it, Taylor knew, and he wasn't asking her to, but he knew there was something between them and it wasn't one sided. He didn't need the validation of her telling him how she felt (whatever that may be), or saying nice things. He only wanted her to stop trying to convince him of something that so obviously wasn't true anymore.

Still, Taylor knew when not to push. He shifted a little, having to scoot closer to Lucy as someone and their big-ass pack of stuff squeezed by him. He sighed a little and cast a glance in her direction. "It could be worse." He reasoned, offering a thin smile. "There are worse people to be stuck on a camping trip with." God he was hoping she would at least give him that.

[Lucy James]

"Game?" she asked, somewhat amused. "Is that what we're calling it now?" Though, she figured she'd rather prefer that over anything else he could dish out. She wasn't sure if she would consider them a 'anything', but that was most likely her pride talking, and she knew all too well that the boy would likely argue that too, so she didn't say anything. Whatever it was, Lucy didn't know what to call it - or if she even wanted to call it anything. Sighing, the brunette tossed the boy a glance.

Tossing a glance around the bus, the brunette's lips tugged somewhat into something of a smile. "I don't know about that. That leprechaun in the back looks rather pleasant." She tossed the dirty little girl a quick glance before grimacing. Yeah no, Lucy was staying away from whatever the hell that was supposed to be. "I suppose you're right though." She pulled her gaze away from him as she leaned her forehead back against the window. "You could have been this annoying Irish kid I know. Boy, is he a pain in my ass." She had a hard time keeping the growing smirk off of her lips.

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor gave a bit of a shrug. He was far too confused to even try and figure all this out just yet. Even though he'd finally managed to get her to admit in so many words that she didn't outright hate him anymore her motives, thoughts, and feelings on the matter still remained largely a mystery. He nudged her a bit with his shoulder and chuckled softly. "Well, what would you call it?" He asked, already resigned to the notion that she wasn't going to give him anything on that front either.

"Mmhmm." He watched as the blue eyed girl looked about the bus. "Thought so." Taylor gave a satisfied nod, even as she pointed out someone else she'd rather spend the trip with but the way she seemed to immediately reconsider her words (which he hadn't believed in the first place) had given away her ruse. He couldn't help the laugh that came with her next comment. Pain in the ass? Was that all she had for him? He would take the ribbing so long as it came with that smirk of hers. "Well, you know you could always creepy girl over there." He said pointing out the brunette girl who'd said nary a word and was clutching her bag protectively to her chest. "She looks like she's just a load of laughs."

[Lucy James]

Quirking her brow at his question, the brunette's lips pursed. "A one way ticket to murderville?" Honestly, Lucy was as clueless as the boy sitting next to her was in terms of knowing what to call all of this. She was fine with being clueless though. It seemed a lot less problematic, and that also meant she didn't have to call it anything, and she could continue doing exactly what she always did. She was a lone wolf. Always had been, and she probably always would be too. The fact that she managed to stay in his presence at all was a miracle.

Following his gaze, Lucy rolled her eyes. "All yours," she replied. She had no intentions of hanging out with anyone on this bus, let alone the nervous wreck of a girl who looked like she was heading straight to crazy town any minute. There were only a small amount of people Lucy could actually be around on this busy, and neither of which were all that preferred. One was practically mute and didn't seem to give a flying fuck about anything, and then there was that other boy who was far too pessimistic for his own good, and the twins... Well, they were hardly worth her time anymore. "I'm good."

She did however shift some as a hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose; the cold and hard window wasn't all that comfortable. Lifting her hand further, Lucy pulled off her beanie and sighed. "What'd you get hauled off here for anyways?"

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor nodded. He, too, would accept not knowing what they were or what was growing between them. The look on Lucy's features that accompanied the reply spoke volumes, as it commonly did. They were both in the middle of something and that was the extent of the knowledge either of them had. Her evasion of the topic at least told him she was aware of this. Taylor couldn't afford to be too greedy when it came to the girl's admission of feelings.

No, Taylor had no interest in anyone else that he'd seen on the bus. He hadn't put forth the effort to look over all of them since spying Lucy but he didn't figure any of the 'bad kids' were really his type. He was usually far too happy and easy going to mingle much with this crowd. "Me?" He shrugged a little and glanced at Lucy, a smirk touching his lips. "A little armed robbery back home. Or my ties to Colombian drugs lords." He lifted a finger for emphasis, though, at the next bit. "I was found not guilty for the illegal otter-fighting ring, so, they can't use that against me."

[Lucy James]

Staring at the boy with an almost blank expression, Lucy's lips pursed. "You can erase humor off your list, 'cause you clearly don't own that field just yet." He was clearly a dumbass, but surprisingly Lucy didn't really mind. Shaking her head then, the brunette offered him something of a meek smile. No, she hardly saw him as the type who would belong here; most of these kids were... Well, the kids she actually knew weren't exactly what you'd call a honor roll student. She doubted Taylor was, but he hardly seemed as bad as the rest of them.

"Well, better get used to all the crazy then, because I have a feeling you're in for a lot of it." She tossed the twins still on the outside of the bus a quick glance before she turned to look back at Taylor. Though, she figured he was used to that too, seeing as how much time he'd spent around Lucy. She wasn't exactly... Well, he'd been in for a ride.

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor didn't have to ask what had landed Lucy on the naughty list. He'd seen enough of it first hand and could only imagine what she was like to authority figures and the like. He didn't envy anyone who had to try and get Lucy James to do, well, anything she didn't want to. He simply took her response in stride, nodding a little as he agreed with her. He was uncouth and his sense of humor had been called a little off kilter. It certainly wasn't for everyone.

With a nod, Taylor caught Lucy's gaze for a few seconds. He didn't try and turn a simple bus ride to a place neither of them wanted to go into some romantic moment by grinning cheesily at her, but he did reach out and give her leg a comforting pat. "Sometimes the crazy's worth it." He couldn't help but let out at least that much.

[Lucy James]

Lucy's brows furrowed at the leg pat. Her eyes dropped at his hand and she stared at it for a moment as if the gesture was completely alien to her. Rolling her eyes then, the brunette's head shook as she looked back up again. "Refer to me as crazy again and you'll suddenly find yourself with one less arm," she replied as she offered him one of her renown sugar sweet smiles. There was little malice to be found in it though, unlike everyone else who got it.

Placing her own hand on his, she removed his hand from her leg and put it back onto his lap. "Or maybe you'd prefer eating your own balls. That could be amusing to watch." And yes, she was fully aware at how incredibly horrible she was at proving how crazy she wasn't. Ah well, it hardly mattered anyways. Stretching her arms above her head, the brunette's shoulders rolled back before she settled back in her seat, her head leaning to the side and against the boy's shoulder.

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor was going to respond in kind. He had his reply all lined up and it was going to be a zinger. So great was the power behind his next words he was almost hesitant to use them because they would surely reduce the blue eyed girl to a blubbering mess of tears and raw emotion.

Okay. So it wasn't that great but he had prepared a wicked enough reply that would have most assuredly shown Lucy that Taylor could got toe to toe with her in any exchange of snark, sass, or sarcasm. He didn't fear upsetting or pushing Lucy away anymore. She'd all but admitted there was something between them. Whether either of them knew what it was or could figure it out was irrelevant. There was something and they both knew it. It had been hell, pushing through the wall Lucy had put up. He'd nearly been driven insane by the girl and her way of seamlessly switching moods and keeping him constantly on edge and second guessing. To be able to sit here and playfully banter with her all the while being subjected to those little smirks she sent his way every once in a while was an invitation to show Lucy he wasn't one to wilt under pressure. He could match her word for word and not back down.

Taylor's mind, which was normally super naturally sharp and aware, absolutely glitched when Lucy's head found his shoulder. His mouth had been open to spout a retort to her previous jab but it closed suddenly and he found himself wrapped in the warmth that came with the girl's presence. He gave a small smile and glanced down to her. Even as her eyes closed and he thought she looked almost content and alarming realization crept into him. She had him. Mind, body, and soul. Whether she realized it or not Taylor was hers to hate, love, abuse or appreciate. The only thing he could do now was hope, beyond all hope, that when all was said and done she didn't hurt him beyond repair.

[Lucy James]

She didn't know why she'd made the gesture she'd made, but it felt like the right thing to do, and she'd quickly realized that in whatever all of this was, it was a lot safer for her to simply god with whatever her gut told her, as opposed to what her brain was trying to scream out. Besides, she'd found herself growing rapidly more comfortable with the small gestures. Although they were both few and rare, she figured that after everything, it was the very least she could do. He had for all its intents and purposes held his ground (save for the encounter in the dance studio) and whatever happened from here, at least there was this rejoice over.

Shifting slightly without moving her head from his shoulder, Lucy looked up at the guy. "Wipe that smile off of your face," she replied, her voice almost soft. With that, Lucy's eyes fluttered closed. Her hand lifted to brush a strand of hair away from her face and she continued to tuck it behind her ear as she went back to chewing on her bottom lip. She didn't know what all of this meant, but for a change, she wasn't just terrified of it, she was also curious.