And Counting [Lucy]

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

“Yeah, we’ll get lunch soon.” Penelope leaned forward, giving her brother a quick hug. If she hadn’t, he wouldn’t have let her walk off; the older Blaise was much more affectionate than his sister.

Penelope shifted her bag on her shoulder as she headed into the dorms. It had been a week since she last been there, for Penelope had gone home to New York with her brother to celebrate Christmas with her parents. It was nice, of course, but holidays were always hectic, and she found herself somewhat grateful to be back in Pilot Ridge for some peace and quiet.

…And possibly because she missed someone.

The Brit would sooner die than admit it out loud, but she had found herself missing Lucy Serrano. An idea that she never thought would cross her mind.

And that was why instead of going to her own dorm, Penelope found herself knocking on the familiar door on the co-ed floor. She pursed her lips as she waited – why was it the Australian always took so long to answer the door?

But soon enough it opened, and Penelope continued to stand awkwardly in the doorway, luggage and all. She hadn’t even gone back to her own dorm yet.

“Hi.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy Serrano simply couldn't be bothered flying all the way home for the holidays. It was so far. Her sister was here - what more did she need? When Lucy said she didn't want to go, Nica followed suit, leaving their parents in the proverbial dust back at home. They were sad, but it was what Nica had wanted, so they were okay with it.

Lucy hung out with the youngest Serrano during the day and got drunk with her friends, Rowan and Sawyer, the night of Christmas. It was awesome.

She kept herself busy by drowning in a myriad of online games. Somehow shooting the utter shit out of strangers really kept her mind distracted. She didn't want to think about the fact that her British counterpart was an unknown distance away. Miles were still confusing.

And it was worse that she didn't know when she was getting back. But she kept it all to herself. No point bringing down her friends. They kept her spirits up anyway.

A knock at the door didn't surprise her. She didn't hear it initially, not until she pulled her headphones away and realised it was going on. It was either Rowan or Sawyer, most likely, with another epic idea about how to waste the time they had on break away. New years was literally just around the corner. Their idea better be epic.

Eventually she drawled herself away from the computer and made her way towards her bedroom door. She took a breath in, with every intention of starting on whichever it was.

But it wasn't either.

Lucy exhaled the breath she was holding, an involuntary smile appearing on her features. She stepped forward, pressing her hands to her face and meeting her with a small, significant kiss. When she drew back, she brushed her thumb across Penny's cheek bone, her excited smile boiling down into something more refined. Genuine.

"Hey."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope’s bag almost slid off her shoulder as she reciprocated the kiss, smiling into it. Her hands naturally swung around Lucy’s neck as she pulled the Australian closer to herself. She hadn’t meant to be so eager, but it felt natural to do so.

The kiss was far too short, yet it still felt like it had the perfect amount of connotation behind it. She returned Lucy’s smile with one of her own, and she let out a light laugh.

“I just wanted to say that I was back.” An eyebrow raised ever so slightly as she spoke. She paused a second, tilting her head to plant a soft kiss on Lucy’s palm. “It’s nice to see you too.” She added, lips brushing against Lucy's fingers as she spoke.

She leaned forward, offering another light kiss as she gently eased Lucy back into her dorm and closed the door behind her. She wanted this moment to herself, and didn’t want to share it with any random passerby.

Penelope slid her bag off her shoulder and placed it on the floor as they entered, and her arms moved down to rest loosely on her counterpart's waist before she finally broke the kiss. "You act like you've missed me or something." She couldn't stop herself from teasing.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Briefly, the ink manipulator wondered if that was it. She was going to say that she was back and then leave again. It would have been cruel. A total power play. She was thankful Penny wasn't that strong.

Lucy let herself be manoeuvred away back into her room, forgetting where she was for a time before the door closing pulled her back into reality. The reality that was a week without the person she was sleeping with. A week didn't really seem like much, but it left her longing for the attention she'd grown accustomed to. Suddenly it had been gone.

Surely in time she'd revert back to her not-so-touchey self.

Lucy muttered words indescribable when Penny asked if she missed her. She didn't really ask, but honestly, she did. "Are you really asking me that?" Lucy asked, working to take a step back before she paused, stopping herself.

"Fuck it." She leaned forward and kissed her again. The games and witty banter could wait a while longer.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Even if Penny had intentions of leaving, they would have disappeared the moment she felt Lucy’s lips against her own. Nobody was strong enough against Lucy’s… whatever it was.

Penelope couldn’t stop a light laugh from coming forth as she tried to decipher the Australian’s mutters. It was amusing to see her like this. “Yes, I am.” She answered with a little grin. She knew the answer, though.

As Lucy pulled away, Penelope felt her hand twitched as she wished to reach out for the Australian. It was frustrating in itself that she felt the need to be so close to her, but Penelope decided to blame it on the fact that she hadn’t seen Lucy in a full week. In a few days, she wouldn’t be so desperate for closeness with the ink manipulator, right?

Right.

She had been about to lightly scold Lucy for still managing to place a swear at least once in every ten words spoken when Lucy leaned in and kissed her again.

Penelope could scold her on proper language later.

She tugged Lucy closer to herself, hands quickly sliding into the Australian’s shirt. She ran her fingers along the small of Lucy’s back as she responded to the kiss.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Usually, Lucy was adept at keeping her distance for the duration of a decent volley. She should have detangled herself from Penny's arms, diminishing her grasp to nothing. Maybe offered an amused grin and a chiding remark adorned with swear words. Because it was simply the normality of their situation.

But a week changed things. She had to wait. Bide her time. She couldn't go take what she wanted when she wanted it.

She had to adhere to stipulations put in place by her counterpart. Lucy never followed rules well at the best of times, but she'd had no choice. So now that she was here, it wasn't that Lucy wanted to push the moment with her to make up for lost time.

Lucy wanted to savour it.

She pushed back the minimal distance to press her against the door. It was insanely difficult not to give into the temptation of losing herself in every notion - every touch and connotation offered. But she kept herself in suspension; she kissed her with less heated passion, more purpose. Her fingertips caressed the contours of her cheeks, across the line of her jaw and down to her neck. It was as if every new, minor movement carried with it a new sensation. And it'd only been a week.

Slowly, the ink manipulator pulled away, save for the moment where she leaned in to press her lips to the corner of her mouth. Her eyes opened, her gaze searching for something relevant. Something significant. The distance was minimal. Barely worth noting.

"Fine," Lucy whispered, her breathing heavy as she searched to consume enough oxygen to sustain herself; "I missed you."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope closed her eyes, enjoying every little moment between them. There was no need to be hasty now that she was back in Pilot Ridge. For once, she was truly happy to be back in Vermont.

One of Penelope’s hands slid upward, running slowly up Lucy’s back until finally her fingers curled up in the Australian’s hair while her thumb gently tickled along Lucy’s jaw line. Penelope felt like she was trying to take in every element of her counterpart – she wanted to remember the moment. Every touch. Every detail.

Had it really only been a week?

As Lucy pulled back, Penelope found that her own breathing to be heavy as well. She sucked in a long breath, trying to control it as she opened her eyes.

A smile tugged at her lips at Lucy’s words. “Good.” She stated softly with a small nod. She didn’t say it aloud, but she missed Lucy, too, and her eyes clearly expressed it.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

For once, it was alright that she was the one putting herself out there. As much as it usually pained her to express an emotion without a real response, she could let it all slide. Good, she'd said.

"That's a really fucking charming sentiment." Lucy retorted lightly. Despite the swear, she was letting her win. She could have it.

But finally, she rocked back and took a step away, dangerous as it seemed. Unwanted as the action was.

This time she exhaled on a laugh as she made the necessary steps back to her desk. Any more indulging and she'd completely - willingly - lose herself in everything about her. As she swung the chair around, her eyes briefly glanced at the new found decide she had on her desk - a miniature robot. Chrome covered. A significant gun mounted on an arm, a remote control at the side.

Those twins were crazy, but damn they build some cool stuff. "Is this when I ask how your trip was?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

“Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to add a few curses to make it sound more romantic?” Penny questioned playfully, well as playfully as Penelope could possibly get in a given situation.

As Lucy pulled away, Penelope felt herself unwillingly letting go so that she could go back over to her desk. The Brit let out a breath; it was better that way. Much more contact and Penelope wouldn't have made it back to her dorm, or at least not for a few hours.

She wasn't sure if it was because she hadn't seen the girl in a week or if it was just Lucy herself, but she was intoxicating. It only took so long for Penelope to feel drunk off of her. It was dangerous.

Penelope remained in her spot against the door, adjusting her button-up blouse slightly as she glanced over at Lucy. She hadn't spotted the robot... yet.

“If you'd like.” The Brit shrugged, feeling that there was little to tell about her vacation. Penelope never found much use in explaining such things, but decided to offer a few details. “My brother got his first tattoo.” At least it was something that Lucy might be interesting, seeing as there was more inked skin on her than not.

“...And how was yours?” She knew Lucy hadn't left, but figured the girl managed to get into some sort of trouble while stuck in Pilot Ridge.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"Maybe. If you're keen to." Lucy replied with a simple raise of her eyebrows. She'd only ever heard her swear, what, twice? Lucy was lucky if she could maintain that number in the space of five minutes.

Swinging about in the chair slightly - idly from side to side - Lucy wondered if she should have asked. It wasn't that she didn't care, it just felt too... Normal.

"You have a brother?" Lucy asked instead. She didn't know that. Though it was hardly the information she was supposed to take away from that sentence. "Did you get one too?" Instinctively, her eyes started travelling across the Brit's form. She couldn't see anything new. Honestly, she just liked to stare.

She already knew the Australian hadn't gone home. She wouldn't be there if she had. "I hung out with my sister." Lucy replied, "Rowan and Sawyer, too. Afterwards."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Swearing was one thing that Penelope could not willingly bring herself to do. She only swore when it was appropriate, even if the point of swearing was to not be appropriate. “I'd rather not.”

It was strange to hear Lucy asking about her vacation, and the Brit idly pushed herself off the door, making her way across the room. She decided to keep her distance, wondering just how long this seemingly normal conversation would go on for. It seemed almost strange to be having such a conversation in the first place.

“Yes,” she explained, wondering what Lucy's reaction would be if the Australian ever met Michael, who was very different from the younger Blaise. He'd probably hug her on their first meeting. “His name is Michael. He's four years older than me.” She wasn't exactly sure what else to say about him. Even if she was close with him, she never talked about him with others. It was unusual.

She stopped short of the bed as she felt Lucy's eyes on her, and a faint blush rose to her face. “No. I have no interest in permanently marking my skin.” she stated, “Ever.”

Penelope raised her eyebrows, “You have a sister?” For some reason, she had always assumed that Lucy was an only child. “Hmm.” She could only imagine being in a room with two Serranos.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"Shit." Lucy replied instinctively. She knew the stigma about older siblings. Hell, she was one.

Lucy chuckled to herself as she looked away again. "Shame." She retorted, "The ink thing works a lot better when it's under the skin." Though, once she spoke she realised that that probably wasn't a good way to start potentially convincing someone tattoos were awesome. The crawling under the skin notion definitely took some getting used to.

It dawned on her then that she'd never mentioned her sister. She rarely did. "Yeah. Her name's Nica. She's fifteen." Lucy explained. She kept her relatively under wraps for reason. "Don't worry, she's not like me. She's nice. Bright. Bubbly. Girly." Glancing back at her computer idly, she'd yet to realise how negative that sounded.

"You'd probably love her." Lucy added absent mindedly, a hint of a smile catching her lips. "But then, she's boy crazy. So maybe not."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope felt a shiver run through her spine at the idea of ink being manipulated under her skin. She couldn’t stand the idea of a needle jabbing into her skin with ink over and over again, let alone the idea of that ink moving afterwards. “I’ll pass.”

She raised her eyebrows as she listened to Lucy describe her sister, and she laughed at the idea of liking her simply because she was different than Lucy.

“I don’t think I could handle loving two Serranos at the same—“ Penelope cut herself off, eyes widening at her own words. “—time…” Did she really just say that? Why did she say that? It had just slipped out without thought. It was a snarky reply to a statement. That was all.

She didn’t mean it. Not yet.

“I—“ she turned towards Lucy, unsure how she could possibly give a reasonable explanation, because there wasn’t one.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

At first, Lucy genuinely thought nothing of the statement. It was a passing, fleeting comment. One that didn't register with her. "You just-"

Until it did.

Lucy turned in her chair to face her properly, wondering what was wrong. Why she was awkward. She still saw it as a passing comment, but her reaction to her own words were what muddled things for the eldest Serrano.

The look on her face said it all.

"Lucky you don't, huh." Lucy offered, turning her attention away again.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope held her breath a moment, trying to find something in Lucy’s expression that would help her explain. But the Australian offered nothing in return. She seemed unphased by the words completely.

Like she didn’t care.

The Brit gave a small nod in agreement, eyes glancing over towards Lucy’s desk as she did so. “I’m sure you’d hate that.” She added in, trying not to let any bitterness come through.

“Is that… a robot?” Penelope made a quick attempt at a subject change as she noticed the little repulsively shiny item on Lucy’s desk.