Time Warp: Different Trajectories [Lucy]

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

[April 18, 2024]

Penelope was extremely passionate about the English language, and it was evident in her teaching style. She didn’t want to tell her student the proper rules of grammar; she wanted to teach it to them. Penelope believed wholeheartedly that without full understanding as to why something was a rule, then that rule wouldn’t be properly appreciated or followed.

And Penelope loved rules.

Thus why she was going into excruciatingly long details about how to use apostrophes the proper way. She had read far too many papers that misused them.

Her handwriting was neat on the whiteboard as she wrote out a few examples for the class to break down. “Can anybody tell me why ‘its’ is possessive even though it does not use an apostrophe?”

She turned to the class, looking back at the students with expectation, but her attention shifted to the door as she heard it open.

“You’re tardy, Lawre—“

That wasn’t Lawrence.

Immediately, Penelope’s lips pursed into a thin line, “What are you doing here?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Nine years was a long time. Lucy grew up and yet, primarily stayed the same. Admittedly, she developed into a more refined person, but at heart she was - and likely always would be - a bit of a jackass. The kind that loved to cause problems where there were none. So when she had time, she liked to visit Hammel for a multitude of reasons. Partly because Sawyer had a legitimate job with legitimate hours and couldn't hang out whenever the Australian herself had the time away from her studio or the tattoo shop. Partly for Nostalgia.

And partly for English class.

She knew she got the timing right, because she always did. When she wandered down the hallway, her attention was snagged by the very thing she'd been looking for. There, through the window, she saw the familiar face adressing the class - likely rambling on about some shit no one was ever going to remember or care about.

It was... A refined guess.

Lucy didn't hesitate to swing the door open, poking her head through to be greeted by that face. Like she didn't get enough of that at home.

"Hey! What're you-" Lucy started, feigning the most sincere confusion ever seen on the face of the Australian. "Oh. It's okay. I'll wait." She leaned against the doorway, her arms folded and her lips procuring a significantly defined smirk. "You finish."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope raised an eyebrow at her counterpart, knowing that smirk all too well. She gave Lucy a look that clearly stated that the Australian was going to get a mouthful later.

She turned to the class. "Please excuse the interruption." She said before pulling out the chair to her desk. The desk that she barely found herself sitting at now. She tilted her head towards Lucy, "Sit." It came across half as an offer, half as a demand.

This was going to be a long twenty minutes.

"As I was saying," she started again, suddenly finding very hard to focus simply from the Australian's presence. "Because 'it is' shortens to 'it's', the apostrophe is applied there instead." She pointed to the board to help stress her point, her gaze shifting to Lucy as she did so. She let out a sigh. Damn that woman.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

There was that look again. Lucy was just lucky she could ignore it - for the most part.

Lucy raised her eyebrows at the request. Which really wasn't a request as much as it was an order. It wasn't the first, nor would it be the last time, she was ordered around by her. Old habits die hard. With a shrug she opted to close the door behind her, making her way over towards the desk in question and hooking the chair out to an angle. At first she sat normally, still a little surprised that she didn't get booted outright.

But when she started addressing the class, Lucy slowly moved her boot-clad feet up onto the desk - as quietly as possible. But nothing dulled the snickering of the people watching her.

Did they even know who she was?

When Penny did look back at her, she shrugged her shoulders. "Don't look at me. I barely speak legit English as it is."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny considered kicking Lucy out, but god knows what the Australian get up to if she had free reign of the school. So there she stayed. Penny was thankful that she didn't put up a fight about sitting down. It was easier for the Brit to keep an eye on her that way.

Of course the class was amused by it. It was an amusing situation, after all. Penelope pursed her lips at the series of snickers that had came from her students. Great.

Her eyes traveled down Lucy's body before stopping on the boots which were settled nicely on her desk. She thought of making a comment, but knew that it would only distract the class further, so remained silent. Penelope briefly thought of the last time Lucy was at that desk. She didn't need to touch the wooden surface to recall the memory.

“Yes, seeing as 'legit' is not an actual word.” she commented harshly. She needed to get back to teaching her class instead of letting herself get distracted by the Australian and any memories associated with her. However hot they might have been.

“The term 'legit' derives from 'legitimate',” she started before noticing one of her students looked particularly uncomfortable. She raised her eyebrows, putting a hand on her hip. “Emma, is there a—“ she paused.

Emma was a telepath.

“…problem.” Penelope felt her cheeks start to burn, and she fiddled with the ring on her finger.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"But you knew what it meant." Lucy pointed out effortlessly. The choice of word, within itself, was a trap. A trap she fell for.

Something happened, then. She wasn't really sure what. But someone was getting called out on for something.

Oblivious to the proposed problem, which Penny would have to field for herself, Lucy pressed on with her own curiosity; "So, if swearing is part of the English language, why is it banned everywhere I go?"

Twenty-nine years old and evidently, still a child. At least Penny knew better than to try to completely obliterate swearing from their household.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

The girl in question was obviously embarrassed. "Nothing!" she said quickly as she was called out. Penelope gave a nod, not questioning the poor girl. Instead she felt a need to clear her mind of any private thoughts.

…It was just really hard to.

Her face remained flushed as she tried to continue. “It originates from the medieval latin term ‘legitimatus’ which means—“

Penelope couldn’t believe that her fiancé was that obnoxious kid in class. Still.

She shot a flustered glance to her partner. This was too much. “Swearing has a purpose.” She said shortly, determined to at least teach the class something. “It’s vulgar, and has a time and place. You happen to abuse it.” Her tone suggested this was not the first time they had this conversation. “If you swear when it is appropriate, it’s acceptable.”

Her fingers grazed against the desk as she walked towards the white board. There was a slight falter in her step and her cheeks deepened in color. Emma let out a flustered squeak from the back of the room.

Now would be a perfectly acceptable time for a swearword.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy wore a definitive smile; one of total mischief. It was different to a grin or a smirk. It was bred from joy. The joy of this entire situation.

But good on Penny for trying to keep a straight face. It was like being in high school again, and it was awesome.

When she caught the flustered expression and subsequent look from her partner, Lucy pursed her lips and feigned concern. She was completely ready to accept the challenge that was arguing the importance of wearing. It was an argument she'd visited before. A lot. At home.

And she was pretty sure she never lost.

"Swearing is awesome." Lucy denoted instead. "And legitimate. It's pretty ingrained into cultures. Brits swear too, y'know."

Leaning inward slightly, Lucy continued to glance up at her from her place in the chair, tilting her head to the side slightly. "Are you okay?" She opted to drop her voice to a whisper; "Need to call class off a little early?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny brought a hand to her head, rubbing her temple slightly as she was brought back to the moment. She had never had this much trouble teaching a class before, even the ones that Lucy barged in on.

The class let out another waves of snickers as Lucy argued, like she was the cool kid that questioned authority. In most situations, Ms. Blaise was considered a relatively terrifying teacher. It was no wonder they were getting a kick out of this.

She ignored Lucy’s statement, but her eyes met with the Australian’s as she asked her if she was okay. She headed took a couple steps towards her. “What did I say about visiting me during classes?” she whispered back harshly, though there was a hint of affection in her tone. There always was.

Penelope would soon rather suffer than cancel the class. She still had fifteen minutes to squeeze critical information into these students’ brains. “No. Just…behave.” She let out a long breath as she returned to the whiteboard. She could do this.

By the time the class ended, Penelope had managed to return to her normal demeanor again, or at least appeared to. She did assign extra homework, however. “You need to correct twenty-five of these fifty sentences. If you choose to correct all fifty, I will give you a homework assignment’s worth of extra credit. I suggest you take advantage of it.” She rarely gave an opportunity for extra credit.

As the class cleared out, Penelope wiped off the whiteboard, and once she was finally left alone with the Australian, she turned to face her. Hand on her hip, lips pursed, and expecting an explanation.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The hint of laughter from everyone else in the room was nothing but fuel to the fire for Lucy. It was like she was a student. And like when she was a student, her main goal was to be an entertaining factor. Even if it meant irritating her nearest and dearest.

"Iiii'm pretty sure you said you love it." Lucy whispered back, satisfyingly leaning back in the chair again.

But being told to behave was different. Lucy took a long breath in, exhaling slowly. She didn't have to stay. But someone clearly wanted her to.

When things were almost over, the subject of homework came up and Lucy was literally rolling her eyes. With a shake of her head, she interjected quietly; "It's alright, she won't mark it for ages." That was probably a lie, but Lucy could be a distraction if she wanted to be.

And when people were finally gone, Lucy still remained in the chair. She kept her arms crossed, her eyes on her partner. But she was getting that look again. She needed to give an explanation. Lucy exhaled an involuntary laugh, pressing her lips into a forced line a moment later. But the corner of her mouth was still upturned with amusement.

"I missed you." She said, raising her eyebrows once.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny shot a glare at her counterpart. She did love it, but that was beside the point. She’d never admit to it.

Penelope watched Lucy as she waited for an answer. That look Lucy got, like she was trying not to laugh or grin, it was a look that Penelope saw often, especially when the Australian was in trouble. But they both knew she got away with it.

She tried to not let her features soften at the answer, but it was evident in her eyes that she wasn’t going to scold Lucy. Much.

“And because of that you felt a need to barge into my class and make wise comments?” She walked over to the chair Lucy was sitting in, her fingers twitching to reach out and touch the Australian. “You know that drives me mad.” In more ways than one. "And for god's sake, get those dirty boots off of my desk."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy felt a smile rise from the amused expression on her face when she saw the look in Penny's eyes soften a touch. It wasn't much, but it was progress. She'd count it as a win.

She took a very, very brief moment to consider her fiancé's question. It almost looked read, until she nodded once.

"Yes." She answered definitively.

"I know." She answered again, with another short, precise nod. "I like to make you mad."

It wasn't exactly a hard admittance to make. She liked annoying her counterpart just as much as she had before they had feelings for each other. She never stopped. Slowly, the Australian lifted her shoes off the desk and placed them on the floor.

"I like your desk." She added in, offering a third consecutive nod.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope let out a sigh. It had been nine years, and she still found Lucy to be exhausting. She briefly wondered if there would be a day when she didn’t.

“I know you do.” She responded, immediately starting to tidy up the top of her desk, insuring that the Australian didn’t crinkle any papers or get dirt on anything. “You do an excellent job at it.”

She raised her eyebrows, gaze shifting from a stack of papers to the desk itself. A brief smile tugged at her lips. “It’s a nice desk.” She agreed, even if she chose to try avoiding touching it as of lately, or at least when students were around. Especially students with telepathic abilities.

“Have you eaten yet?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"Thank you." Lucy sparked up. Usually the words wouldn't suit her somewhat hard demeanour and her unusually cute voice, but like many things, she grew into the notion.

Shifting in her seat, she leaned towards the desk and tapped against the surface. "That it is." She agreed, looking overly proud of herself for such a simple sentiment. If she knew of the telepath in the room, she'd probably be rolling on the floor laughing. Penny was smart to keep that to herself.

"No." Lucy replied simply, shifting in the chair again. This time she reached out to Penny, her fingertips touching against her hand before finally taking hold. Lucy tugged on her hand lightly, refusing to let go. She rested her chin in her free hand, her elbow on the desk as she watched on.

Let her clean the rest with one hand instead.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope smiled as Lucy took her hand, and she gave it a light squeeze. She didn't mind cleaning up with only one hand.

Once her desk was acceptable, she brought her full attention to the Australian. "This was my last class before my break." Penelope stated, "We have time to go out, if you'd like."

She paused a moment before lifting her free hand, running her fingers along Lucy's jaw. "I was going to swing by the studio." She mad missed her, too.