Time Warp: I'll Leave the Door on the Latch [Lucy]

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

May 10, 2025 

Only a few days had passed since Sawyer had received the bad news that resulted in her and Lucy becoming a drunken mess. Although the night had ended without any (major) injuries and everybody was on, more or less, good terms, there was still an underlying tension that flooded Penny and Lucy's home.

The Brit hadn't been trying to actively avoid her fiance, but she also hadn't been her usual self around the Australian, either. Penny found herself being more bitter even towards the most innocent of actions. She frankly couldn't ignore the argument that had taken place; she constantly played the small, heated conversation over in her mind.

She tried her best to push it out of her mind as she made dinner that night, but the effort was futile. Her frustration was never spoken, but instead show in through the little things she did.

...Such as grating cheese.

Penny had slipped up, having been trying to push too hard on the cheese block. As a result, her she put a good sized slice in her palm near her thumb.

“For God's sake!” the Brit spat out, frustratingly looking down as the blood started to flow from the cut. She forcefully put the cheese grater on the counter and headed towards the bathroom sink to grab a few bandages.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Ever since the eldest Serrano got the news about the shift in her best friends lives, she'd been on edge. It didn't help that things with Penny were suddenly so tense. But she knew why they were, and she wasn't about to be the first to break that wall down.

Lucy spent more of her time away from the house - an extra hour here or there at the studio to keep her mind at ease. She didn't sleep properly; something about curling herself up to the utmost opposite side of the bed just never felt right. The lack of a physical connection was more draining and frustrating than anything else. So she'd often move, finding comfort in losing her mind to a decent video game for a few hours in the early morning. On one particular night, she just... Didn't come home. She'd spent her time with Rowan and just never reached out to her beloved for confirmation that she was okay.

Rowan had, in the end, called and told her Lucy was fine. He made a point to rub it in her face that she was with him instead of her, but at least he thought enough to tell her Lucy was okay.

At any rate, it was the usual developed routine. Penny was in the kitchen, Lucy was mindlessly destroying the outlaw gangsters that kept trying to steal her damn caps. Even though she knew there was no way Penny was going to talk to her properly, she still wore her headset off one ear. It was familiar.

So when she swore - as much as she likely ever would - Lucy heard it. She jerked her head up, twisting to look back at her. But she'd run off before Lucy could get a good look at her. It took a moment of thought, but eventually she tore her attention away from the all important game in her hands and followed along.

"Jesus, love." Lucy twisted her mouth into a frown, stepping forward and moving to rest her hand in the small of her back. She couldn't exactly help, but she could try to be comforting all the same.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope was already dabbing rubbing alcohol on the cut, wincing as she did so. She was never one to handle pain well, even in the smallest amounts. The Brit hadn’t heard Lucy walk into the bathroom, and had just assumed her yell had gone unheard or ignored. The touch was unexpected, and Penny found herself unwillingly leaning into it.

“It’s fine.” Penelope snapped through gritted teeth as dabbed at her hand again. She opened a bandage and placed it over the cut. That should be enough for now.

Through the mirror, she looked up at her fiancé with tired eyes. It wasn’t late yet, but she hadn’t slept the night before due to Lucy’s night out with Rowan, whose call did not help the situation in the least.

The psychometrist let out a sigh and closed the bottle to the rubbing alcohol. “I’m surprised you heard me.” She stated flatly, “Seeing as you didn’t seem to hear your phone at all last night.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The contact was so minimal, but it felt so important. The fact that she almost unwillingly leant into it wasn't lost on the ink manipulator. It was a relief - she couldn't really remember the last time in recent days she'd made any insignificant contact.

Lucy caught her eyes in the mirror, studying her face with the usual scrutiny. She looked tired. Truthfully, they both did. And they had since they found out Sawyer's news.

When she started talking, Lucy realised her hand was wavering. She wanted to let go again. More to the point, she felt like she was being asked to. So she did; the Australian removed her hand and placed it by her side. "They're both going through a bloody crisis, Pen." She pointed out, the pressure in her voice rising already. She couldn't help but protect the mere notion of Rowan in this; "Dole out your compassion, why don't you."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope straightened her back as she felt the familiar hand slip away from her. In all honesty, she missed the contact. She, too, felt uncomfortable sleeping with the Australian at her side but somehow not near her. It was like Lucy didn’t want to touch her.

She raised her eyebrows as Lucy immediately went on the defense, and Penny turned to face her, folding her arms over her chest. “I’m not upset that you went out with him; I’m upset that you didn’t even bother to call.” That much should have been obvious.

She closed her eyes, recalling the phone conversation Rowan had with her that night. Penny had been exhausted, worrying that Lucy was possibly hurt or something. If anything, she was thankful she was with Rowan instead of lying in some ditch. “It’s like you didn’t even care.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Penny's stance towards her said it all. The Australian was incredibly glad she'd torn her hand away.

"I'm not sorry that at some points in life, you aren't the first thing I think about." Lucy interjected, a little harshly given the state of things between them. She meant it, but she knew it wasn't going to go across as it should have. It was difficult to get her mind past her fiancé at the best of times, and she'd never complained about the way she enraptured her thoughts before.

She still couldn't get her mind off the fact that this felt like an attack on her proverbial male-soulmate. "Why's it different when it's with Sawyer?" She asked instead, "You didn't lose your shit about it when you realised the situation. What's the difference?" Oh, she knew the difference. But it wasn't her question to answer.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope shook her head, unable to believe how this conversation was turning out. “Do you really think that I expect to be the first thing on your mind?” she replied, her voice taking on an equally harsh tone. “But is it so much to ask for you to take a minute to call?”

Penny raised her uninjured hand to her head and rubbed her temple with her middle finger, letting out a frustrated sigh. Did she really have to ask?

“You actively avoided calling me, you’ve been doing it since that night!” Penelope’s voice raised slightly. “And I’m sure you just loved hearing that call Rowan made last night. He was eating up the fact that you were angry enough at me, like it was the best thing on earth!”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy, very briefly, felt the need to say that no, she didn't expect Penny to feel that way. But it was a fact nonetheless. However, it didn't feel like the right time to inject necessary truth about the inner workings of the Australian's mind. "You got a call, didn't you?" She asked, vividly remembering Rowan making that call.

"That's not a decent answer, and you know it." She shot back instantly. Bringing up Rowan's attitude was something of a favourite of hers. Pulling Lucy in both directions. It always happened. She couldn't stop it. "He called you because he knew how pissed you'd be if you didn't hear anything. That's it. Who gives a fuck how he was on the phone." Lucy waved her hand at the notion. She already knew the two of them had problems. The clear cut jealousy was enough to make her blood boil.

So she quickly opted for a different path; "You've been avoiding me for days! Why would I even want to be here when you clearly can't handle being in the same room for more than a few minutes." And true to form, the ink manipulator scoffed and went to turn away. This wasn't worth talking about. "Fuck this."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

This argument always turned that way. Yes, she had problems with Rowan, but it also gnawed at Penelope how Lucy was overly defensive of the boy when he clearly had issues with her as well. The bitterness wasn’t one sided, that much was clear.

“Oh yes, I’m sure he did it just to ease my suffering mind.” Penelope snapped with sarcasm. “I care how he acts on the phone! He’s more often rude to me than not, and that doesn’t seem to bother you in the least.”

When Lucy stated that she didn’t want to be there, Penelope took it as a punch to the gut. “How can I attempt to avoid you when you don’t bother to come home, or when you are actually here you busy yourself with video games.” Penelope’s lips formed a hard line as Lucy turned to leave.

“Off to Paris now that we’re arguing again?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"You're adults, love." Lucy replied quickly, forgetting for a time that it was smarter not to offer any form of a nickname; "You can sort your own shit out."

The Australian pressed her hands to her forehead, glancing down at the floor for a moment or so. Something different to look at. Something that didn't make her want to break the nearest insignificant object. "I don't want to be around you while you're looking at me like this." She retorted sharply, her voice low; "And I'd rather sleep alone than feel so uncomfortably un-fucking-wanted."

She froze in her steps, taking the time to breathe before she bothered to turn around and look at her again. But breathing didn't do anything to calm her down in the slightest. "Maybe." Lucy replied in earnest, "Is that what you want?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

“I wouldn’t consider him an adult.” Penelope replied harshly. Strangely, in this context she was thankful for the nickname.

Penny was dying to reach out for Lucy, to offer some form of contact to say that she did want the Australian, but she felt the contact wouldn’t be wanted. “Look at you like what?” she questioned, following Lucy out of the washroom.

“No, I don’t want that. You’re not unwanted.” She tried, running a hand through her hair, staring intensely at Lucy for any sign that she didn’t want to leave. She held her breath, trying to calm her boiling blood. It didn’t work. “But maybe if you’re dying to leave me in the dark here, you should.”

Penelope regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, so attempted to drown it out with further argument. “You said you were hurt because I thought you’d kick Sawyer out,” she started, features hardening as she spoke, “But you were going to leave, and possibly not even come back.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"When you say shit like that, I wouldn't consider you one either." Lucy snapped back. She knew all too well what it meant to cross the line in regards to Rowan.

She didn't answer the question about how Penny looked at her. She didn't honestly feel the need to. If she didn't already know, she couldn't help her decipher it.

If nothing else, Lucy was staring back at her with the same expression. She hated when things got this heated; the lines became too blurred to trace. She'd walked out before - never for too long, but as the general means to calm down before things ever went too far. That the psychometrist could actually believe she'd want to was the worst thing of it all.

Lucy wanted to laugh, almost sadistically at the way the argument always turned. It was so ridiculous she usually managed to find some stretch of humour in it. She deflected Lucy's question with a seemingly brand new statement, but the Australian was never so easily deterred. "That's not a possibility for me." She admitted sharply, stepping forward towards her. She felt challenged; like suddenly everything she felt didn't carry conviction. Like she didn't believe her.

"If you want me gone-" She started, but the rest of the challenging dare caught in her throat. Instead, she exhaled a heavy breath. It was infuriating to know she'd do anything for the woman she loved.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope pursed her lips, trying to hold herself back. She did not want Rowan to be the topic of this fight – although she disliked the boy, Penelope actively avoided talking about him when they were arguing. She already snapped about him, and doing so only irritated her fiancé more. She couldn’t possibly imagine Lucy’s reaction if she continued.

The look Lucy was giving her made the Brit forced to shift her gaze. It hurt to see that look, and Penelope sunk her teeth down on her lower lip as she focused on the floor.

Penelope held her ground as Lucy stepped towards her, refusing to back down from the challenge. Lucy was right to do so – Penelope was uncertain with Lucy’s words. What was possibly holding her back?

“I said I don’t!” Penelope snapped far to quickly. She felt like her words weren’t getting through to the girl in front of her. The Brit tensed as she thought of the possibility of Lucy leaving her. Her mind involuntarily drifted to how happy Rowan would be; how right he’d know he was.

“Are you even happy here?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy felt her eyes widen when Penny snapped at her. The conviction in her tone alone was enough to shoot through her every being. She could see the tension run its course through her body.

She dropped her jaw, but couldn't articulate an answer.

The question caught her, and once she allowed the surprise to subside, she looked physically pained again. It hurt to know her happiness was in question. "So much more than happy." She replied after a time.

Cautiously, she reached forward and ran her fingers back through the psychometrist's hair, resting her hand against her cheek. She knew she couldn't fix this with something as simple as a touch, but she needed it for her sanity. "And not just because I'm in love with you." She furrowed her eyebrows with confusion at the need to say that. Something, it felt imperative to point that out.

"But because you're... You."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope hesitated at Lucy’s reaction, and she let out a slow breath. It wasn’t fair to snap, Penelope told herself. Her frustration wasn’t with Lucy herself, or at least not completely.

The few moments of silence between them were painful. She watched Lucy’s expression carefully, seeing how tired she really was.

When Lucy finally did speak, Penelope couldn’t hold her hardened expression.

At the touch, Penelope tilted her head into the palm of Lucy’s hand. The Brit closed her eyes momentarily. It had been days since she felt such comforting contact from Lucy. Her chest tightened as she felt Lucy’s fingers against her cheek, and her response brought out a smile from the Brit. It would be so easy to just let herself get caught up in it.

“I just worry,” she stated, lifting her hand to run gently across Lucy’s arm. She couldn’t stop herself, “when you don’t call.” Penny paused a moment, by now she knew very well that her fiancé had a habit of getting Penny off track with the simplest of moves. She had to press on.

She tilted moved her head further to the side, pressing her lips to Lucy’s fingers as she spoke. “I like to know that you’re okay, and—“ she hesitated for a split second, trying to figure out best how to word herself. “I want you to be happy here.”