#INTERACTION ;; lucinda x kenna (001)

[seolinah]

closed for @mournfulminds // ft. lucy x kenna

Lucy kept themselves busy with inventory, perusing and checking the shelves all in an attempt to avoid have any interaction with Kenna. Was it childish? Probably. But it wasn't as if confrontation was their strong suit, nor was having to deal with unwanted and negative feelings (at least not without something to dull her senses - a habit they wouldn't fall back into). Letting out a sigh, their brow furrowed as they encountered an error in the bookstore's system. Tapping at the tablet in her hands, Lucy swallowed a curse as nothing changed on the screen. Knowing they'd need to ask someone about it, slowly they headed out of the aisle they were in to look for one someone. As long as I don't bump into--

It seemed like a cosmic joke when they nearly slam into Kenna. Pressing their lips together in a tight line, Lucy tried to force a polite smile onto their face. "Kenna. Sorry. About, uh, almost crashing into you. The stupid tablet's broken or something again... Was going to try and find someone to fix it."

[seolinah]

At the mention of talking later, their stomach turned nervously. The idea of further conversation between them seemed like a bad idea. This interaction alone felt awkward and long. It was an unfair take, especially since it wasn't too long ago that Lucy would've sought out Kenna despite not being one for personal relationships of any kind. But know what it was that her ex wanted to discuss had them mostly sighing in relief.

"Oh. Right..." There were quite a few things they'd blocked or overlooked since the end of their relationship with Kenna. It had seemed like the easier thing to do, but clearly that wasn't the case now. "Y-Yeah, I guess we can, uh, talk about that later." Lucy tucked their hair behind their ear. "Or, uh, now if that's easier. I don't have to go if you wanted to go... If that's what you're concerned about anyway."

During the time frame of their dalliance, Kenna was often met with Lucy's stony qualities and while it stung, nothing new arose from it, in fact ─ such might even be why she was attracted to the person in the first place; seeing it as a fun way to peel back the redhead's layer's. She had learnt to wade in the casual indifference that afforded her all the kindness of a new relationship without having to try too hard. A good rebound (small touches paired with flirty looks at work), as her friends had deemed it, but now a nasty one seeing as they had to see each other quite often until one quit. Stuffing her hands into her pockets since Kenna was abruptly aware she did not know what to do with them, the woman glanced around to check no one was in earshot or that any patrons didn't need to be attended to.

"Look, I was wondering if we could, talk... Not now, we're at work, obviously, but I just got a reminder in the mail, that our friend's gallery show that we RSVP'd for a while ago, is this weekend so."

[seolinah]

"Yeah, sure..." They let the tablet be taken out from their hands. It would make their life easier if they simply didn't have to rely on the piece of tech to do her job, but she knew it would take about ten times longer if she had to do it off pen and paper. Lucy nodded as they listened, not entirely sure what TikTok meant, but could at least follow that someone was slowing down their tablets. Hoping it would work, their face fell alongside Kenna's as that proved not to be the problem. "Maybe there's another one I can just use if it won't start working," they shrugged. It wasn't the first time they'd had a run in with tech issues and she doubted this would be the last one. Lucy hesitantly watched Kenna and they tucked a fallen strand of hair behind their ear. "So, uh, thanks for helping. I know you have other stuff going on..."

Masking was a talent that Kenna posessed from her youthful years and carried with, honing it like a craft until it became an inherent vexation to anyone that came in contact with her. Outwordly, the woman was now all lighter streaks, resultant from the breakup, and some of the year-old concealer she had in her mirror cabinet to combat the dark circles under her eyes. Inwardly, she was still keeping the ensuing turmoil at bay from the residual post-breakup feelings that lingered every time Lucy was featured, whether in dialogue or presence.

"Actually, I meant more like this, may I?" She probed, taking the tablet from the redhead before going through all the various apps that were opened and closing them all out. "Someone keeps watching TikToks on here and not closing all the tabs, I don't know if this will work but worth a shot." Waiting in anticipation as she tapped on the screen to refresh it, Kenna's face fell in a disappointed manner when she realised it would not function. "Okay, that's all I got so um, these piece of shit tablets never work, maybe... let's try the wifi?" At least, that is what her son would suggest since at the naive age of nine, he knew more about any sort of tech than her.

[seolinah]

It was never enjoyable running into an ex under normal circumstances, so working with them only doubled the awkward tension when it inevitably occurred. Perhaps they should have thought of that prior to their relationship even beginning - especially with Lucy's track record - but it had seemed worth it at the time. It was all in retrospect, they supposed.

The tongue clucked the roof of their mouth. "Ah... No, I didn't." Though now that Kenna had mentioned it did they realize they could have easily thought of that on their own. And could've easily avoided this little run-in altogether. Holding the power button down, she waited for it to shut off fully before turning it back on. A small huff blew past their lips as they reopened the program only for it to freeze again. "Yeah, guess that wasn't the issue. Figures it wouldn't be that easy."

The perks of arriving at the store early meant she got to pick her area for the day, which happened to be shipping/receiving since it was located in the back and required little to no help, especially from that of prying coworkers with needling questions as to any "tensions" between her and Lucy. It was not as if she was avoiding the other, no, that would be the easy way out and Kenna prided herself on always taking the hard way. She knew her therapist would have something to say about that, but after reasoning that it was best to give both of them space and that she actually enjoyed all the tedious scanning, Kenna resolved she would shelve that topic for a future session.

A scene of flamed locks appears from the corner eye as she rounds a corner to try and escape an inevitable standpoint when one works in such close contact with their ex. Silently cursing herself (and the timing), for she had warily come out for her break and had to cross the floor to get to the employee room, only to come into direct impact, a decent but forced smile towing at the curves of her lips as she shook her head. "Lucy, hey, don't worry about it. And you found me, I could try and help; stupid question, but did you try and closing out some of the other programs, it just sometimes gets overwhelmed."