Ain't What My Heart Expected [Lucy]

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

That possibly felt like the longest day of Penelope’s entire life. The psychometrist needed six hours of sleep to go about her day normally, but could run on as little as three if desperately needed. The previous night, however, she hadn’t slept at all.

She had no idea how she made it through the entire day without crashing. Penny could barely focus on any of her classes; her notes had been sloppy and she was lucky not to fall asleep right at her desk.

Was it worth staying up the night? Of course it was. She’d just never admit it aloud.

Now, however, the Brit dragged herself up the stairs. Instead of climbing to the third floor, Penny opted to save herself a trip and go straight to the co-ed dorms. Lucy hadn’t been in English for the final period of the day. Penny wasn’t surprised to see her not show up – the tattooed girl was far less concerned with school than Penny was.

It didn’t take her long to reach Lucy’s dorm. Penny knocked gently on the door, waited a second, and slowly opened it, stepping inside. There, she saw a lump under the covers of the bed, and immediately a tired smile spread across her lips.

She watched as Lucy shifted slightly, and heard something that resembled the English language. Possibly about being asleep? Penny quietly made her way over to the bed, placing a hand on the ink manipulator’s shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “Hey you.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Last night, Lucy never made it back to her dorm. She'd had every intention to before she'd left, but things panned out in the most unexpected way. She was so sure she'd leave Penny's dorm in some kind of rage. It was enigmatic, how things shifted so easily. How unexpected everything always was. How she got Lucy to stop thinking so easily. Normally, the Australian was sure that would worry her, but she didn't care.

And in the morning light, she still didn't.

Lucy was used to going a night without sleep, but not because of that. Not because she couldn't keep her curious hands to herself. Not because every time she thought she'd settled, she caused her to burn bright again.

She never thought she'd lose sleep because she couldn't help herself around Penelope Blaise.

Within the morning, she forced herself to slowly draw away from the psychometrist, lingering as long as she possibly could by her bedside. Kissing her as many times as she felt she needed to before she could actually manage to leave. Lucy had no intention of going to class. Not if Penny wanted her to stay all day as she had all night. But it was her decision. So in the morning, the ink manipulator made her way back to her dorm and got ready for as much of the day as she could muster.

Really, she could have stayed in her dorm regardless. But what would be the point of that?

Classes were a painful drag. She could see Penny in her usual place at the front of the classroom, but she never really saw her face. As much as she thought being within her presence would make things easier, she was wrong. It was irritating. And by the last class, she was too tired and too irritated to sit and not pass out. So she ditched, went back to her room, peeled herself out of her skinny jeans and curled up underneath the covers. Sure enough, she was out like a light when she hit the pillow.

So she was frustrated when someone actually knocked on the door. Lucy didn't open her eyes, but she did want to try and roll over and look. Unfortunately, she never really tried. She stayed facing the wall, half awake.

Familiar fingers wrapped around her shoulder, offering a reassuring squeeze. Lucy knew who it was. She didn't need to look. The accent-wrapped words were more than enough of a confirmation. Rolling onto her back, she didn't bother opening her eyes as she reached over, curling fingers into the fabric of her clothes near her stomach. "Hn. Guess class's over." She managed to say, pulling the psychometrist down towards her in search of a kiss.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny’s smile grew as she felt familiar fingers grab at her dress. Her hand instinctively traveled up from Lucy’s shoulder to run her fingers through the ink manipulator’s hair.

“You missed a lot.” She teased lightly, although honestly she could barely remember what they had gone over in class. It felt like she hadn’t even gone. When she wasn’t thinking of how tired she was, she had spent class time thinking of the previous night.

She allowed herself to be pulled in, and leaned forward the little distance that was left between then and gently pressed her lips to Lucy’s. Her fingers traveled towards the Austalian’s cheek, thumb grazing over it lightly.

It had only been hours since she had last kissed Lucy, but it had felt like far too long. Even she had been near her all day due to classes, Penny had barely seen her. She had missed Lucy.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"I don't," Lucy started, groaning to herself as she crinkled her nose; "-Give a fuck." She often missed a lot in classes, but she knew Penny was teasing her all the same.

Even in her tired state, she could allow herself to be captivated by the simplicity of the kiss she'd asked for. It was just as she'd felt - even if it had only been a number of hours, it felt like longer. The whole day had been a mess of frustrating irritation and struggling not to fall asleep at her desk. And staring. Jesus, she hoped that hadn't been obvious.

Lucy broke the kiss in order to prop herself up on her elbow with a tired sigh. Slowly she managed to open her dark eyes, glancing through the minimal distance towards her. Reaching out, she lost her fingers in the hair of her counterpart, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck.

"Bet you learned fuck all." Lucy denoted, the grin at the corner of her mouth feeling lazier than usual. "Shoulda stayed in this morning."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Even as Lucy cursed, Penny couldn’t help but to let out a light laugh. She shook her head slightly. “I know.” She said simply. It wasn’t exactly hard to notice that Lucy didn’t care about school as much as she should.

As the kiss broke off, Penny let out a slow breath and again leaned forward to rest her forehead against Lucy’s. She briefly closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of Lucy’s fingers on the back of her neck.

Penny kept her hand on Lucy’s cheek, her thumb gently running along the Australian’s cheekbone. Honestly, with the little she had been paying attention to in class, she might as well have missed it. But instead, she kept quiet; there was no way she could admit to Lucy that she’d skip a class.

She offered another kiss, this one much lighter and shorter than the first. As much as she didn’t want to, she pulled away after a moment only to start taking off her shoes. She’d be there a while.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

At the silence, Lucy pursed her lips idly, dropping her grin in the process. "What, no genius banter?" She asked her, exhaling a quick breath on a short laugh. "No rants? Lectures?" Though honestly, she didn't know if her mind could handle a volley of cleverly strung words. Or mindless insults for that matter.

She accepted the minuscule kiss, following begrudgingly as Penny made a move to pull away. Finally - one for the books - she caught her lips just as lightly before she drew back.

Lucy made a point of shifting more to the side slightly before actually falling back to the bed. She closed her eyes, resting a forearm over her eyes for good measure. And there, with her eyes covered, she grinned again.

"You're going soft on me." She started again, her voice low from the exhaustion she felt. She still wasn't over Penny's lack of a response.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

The light kiss received as she pulled away drew out a grin fro Penny. It took a huge amount of willpower to not worry about her clothes and just crawl into bed in that instant.

Penny raised her eyebrows as she slid off her shoes, “You know, I can offer a lecture if you’d like.” She mused, placing her shoes neatly off to the side before turning back to Lucy. “I have a great one lined up about Edgar Allen Poe.” Penny reached forward, pushing Lucy’s hair to the side. She knew the Australian was joking, as was she; the Brit was too tired for witty banter.

She used the opportunity of Lucy covering her eyes to slide her dress off, although at this point she wasn’t sure if she’d care if the Australian watched. She folded it up neatly before lifting the covers, sliding into the bed with ease. Her arms naturally went to wrap around Lucy’s figure. Had it really only been hours since they last done this?

“It’s the exhaustion.” Penny replied firmly. She leaned forward and gave the ink manipulator a light kiss on the corner of her mouth. The Brit was too tired to think about the fact that she might actually be going soft.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

“Please don’t.” Lucy begged, though in her current state it sounded more like an irritated whine than anything else. Still, she was caught somewhere between a smile and a grin, so at least she could register that Penny was trying her hand at a joke.

Initially, Lucy had no idea what she was doing. Or why it was taking so long for her to crawl into the space she’d provided. Once she registered the sound of shuffling fabric, she moved her arm a fraction, glancing through the minimal space she had.

Oh.

Closing her eyes again, Lucy opted to wear a knowing smile. Everything felt reiterated the moment Penny’s hands were on her again, pulling her in. She moved into the desire so willingly, completely distracted by the skin to skin contact; the way Penny’s body felt against her own. She couldn’t lose her breath so quickly, but there it was, exhaled unevenly past her lips. It couldn’t have just been hours. This was too strong a reaction for a series of hours.

“No it isn’t.” Lucy chided lightly, moving her arm to run her hand across her face slowly. Her involuntary smile grew when she felt Penny’s lips against the corner of her mouth – she resisted the definite temptation to follow them away and steal them again.

Reaching forward, Lucy chose to curl idle locks of Penny’s hair around her fingers, watching her own movements for a time before closing her eyes. “I would have asked you to ditch with me,” Lucy started again, offering something of a lethargic chuckle in tandem with a teasing voice; “No way you woulda said yes. You live for English class.”

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny let out a light laugh at the way Lucy whined. She knew Lucy wouldn't be interested, but was still thankful the Australian didn't try to take her up on the offer. Penny was too tired to give any lectures at the time.

She hadn't caught Lucy peeking as she undressed, but did catch sight of that smile. The Brit raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “What?”

Regardless, she didn't let Lucy's smile stop her from pulling the Australian in. Feeling Lucy's skin against her own caused Penny's chest to tighten. “What is it, then?” she questioned lightly. She pondered over the statement for a few moments, but Lucy's wavering breath proved enough of a distraction for her to dismiss it.

She slid a leg forward between Lucy's as she rested her head against the pillow, eyes fluttering closed as she felt the ink manipulator's fingers curl around her hair. She let out her own uneven breath just from the sheer proximity between them. She kept her eyes closed, but didn't fail to raise her eyebrows at the Australian. “It's an important class. You shouldn't have skipped.” she leaned forward, pressing her lips to Lucy's shoulder lightly. “I don't live for English class.” Okay, maybe she did, but she felt the urge to argue when the Australian teased her.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"Nothing." Lucy replied, though the amused connotations of her tone likely betrayed that fact. Nothing never meant nothing.

The ink manipulator hadn't thought to offer the statement much of an analysis. She knew it couldn't just be exhaustion that made this girl act this way, At least, she was relatively sure of that. "I don't know," She replied honestly. Admitting to a lack of an answer for this didn't seem to bother her as much as it usually would, "But I like it."

Penny's own uneven breathing did wonders to pull the Australian's focus, prompting her to inhale slowly.

"I was bloody exhausted." Lucy reasoned idly, drawing herself forward. With Penny's eyes closed, Lucy breached the minimal distance between them and kissed her again. Though this time she lingered within such proximity, making a point of drawing away from the imperative contact slowly. "You're exhausting." She added in time, her voice dropping to a lower tone. "You didn't regret it? Looked like you could've fallen asleep at your desk a couple of times."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny continued to give Lucy a questioning look. Hadn’t there been hints of amusement in her tone, the Brit might not have questioned the answer, but there were and she was. Nothing never meant nothing. “Right.”

The psychometrist let out a light laugh at Lucy’s reply. Honestly, she was thankful for it. Penelope didn’t have the answer to her own behavior; she wouldn’t know how to handle it if somebody else figured it out before herself.

But at least the Australian liked it.

“As was I, but I still went.” Penny replied softly. Normally, unexpected contact resulted in a jerk or twitch from the Brit, but in this case, she found herself reciprocating the kiss. There had been a moment of hesitation only for the moment that it took her tired mind to catch up with what was happening.

The slow kiss drew a smile out of Penny, and she instinctively leaned forward, eyes still closed, as the felt Lucy pull away. Her smile threatened to turn into a grin at the explanation as to why Lucy was exhausted.

When questioned, Penny’s eyes immediately flicked open. Her smile faded while her eyebrows twitched together, hinting at genuine confusion. “Why would I possibly regret that?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy resisted the urge to laugh to herself as Penny hesitated before reciprocating the kiss she'd offered. Still, she couldn't help the way her lips pulled into an amused smile at the fact. She'd caught her by surprise, and something about that was just amusing to the Australian.

Eyes opened slightly, she saw and even felt the way Penny tried to follow her. Lucy leaned in and caught her mouth again. Lightly. Slowly. Minimal without lacking the usual impact.

Something about all this just made her impossible to ignore.

And truly, she was exhausting. In the best and worst possible ways. But Lucy resisted the urge to point that out in that exact moment.

However, when Lucy caught her genuine touch of confusion, she refused to offer it back. "Cause you're you." Lucy replied, wearing her usual - albeit lazy - brand of humour. She reached forward, choosing to trail her fingertips across the length of her counterpart's back. "Sacrificing a decent day's work for a fucking brilliant night like that?" Lucy asked, her eyebrows raising once. She wanted to reiterate that the fact just didn't sound like her, but she opted not to.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope’s smile grew as she felt Lucy’s lips brush against her own again. Even with its lightness, the kiss felt like it had just as much connotation as they always did, and it still had the same effect on the Brit.

Once Lucy did pull away, the Brit settled her head on the pillow. Between being able to actually close her eyes and the comfort of Lucy next to her, Penny already felt herself dozing off, so much she had almost the question completely.

However, when it did register, she felt suddenly awake. Confused as to why the Australian would even question it, Penny immediately felt a need to explain herself, but Lucy had offered a reason first.

Penelope felt her lips purse as the response sink in. The words felt familiar, because they were familiar. Penny wasn’t one to forget such a moment. The last time Lucy had said that, it had been out of anger. This time, Penny knew it was light humor, but it still sparked something in the Brit.

Because Lucy was right.

Penny gave an idle nod in reply, her lips remained pressed into a hard line as she slowly pushed herself up, pulling away from the familiar touch on her back. “I need to go.” Penny said finally, sliding her legs to the edge of the bed. “You’ve reminded me – I have an assignment I need to do.” It wasn’t a exactly a lie, there was always work for Penelope to do, but she felt the sudden need to leave. It was the logical thing to do.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Truthfully, Lucy expected an answer that would settle between an unamused or awkward reciprocation. She'd even opted for milder language to make things a bit easier for her - referencing a pretty intense night of sex without even bothering to use the word itself.

But the look on her face read as something else. Something unsettling for the Australian. Truthfully, Lucy had all but forgotten the last time she used words like that. Lucy's eyes had turned their gaze towards her mouth instinctively, catching the way her lips pursed before finally pressing into a line.

She inhaled a slow breath when she realised that Penny was literally pulling away from her - away from her hand and by proxy, the bed they were only just sharing again after such a long time. Shifting instinctively, Lucy edged her way through the distance between them, resting a hand against her back.

"C'mon. You're exhausted." Lucy reasoned lightly, glad Penny wasn't looking at her at that point. She didn't need to see the sudden confusion as it settled in her eyes. Sliding a hand around her waist, Lucy drew herself in closer and pressed her lips against her shoulder blade slowly.

Once. Twice. Lingering on the third; "Stay."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Once her mind was set on something, Penelope was usually one to follow through with it. But this was different. Lucy was different. The Australian was talented in putting a roadblock in Penelope plans.

She had been determined to leave the moment she pushed herself up, but the moment she felt Lucy’s hand against her back, she paused. Hesitation was a dead give away that Penny was conflicted about something. It was an involuntary action that always happened when she was stuck between options.

“It’s important.” She lied, exhaling slowly as she tried to find the will to stand. Penny never brought herself to look back at Lucy; she knew that she couldn’t leave if she did.

Yet, as she felt Lucy wrap a hand around her waist, she felt herself losing any ability to stand. Familiar lips pressed to her shoulder blade; her breath caught in her throat. Penny closed her eyes briefly, a barely audible moan passed her lips involuntarily.

This girl was impossible to resist.