Skin New, Hands True

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Any form of aggression had faded as Penny continued to kiss Lucy. Where she would normally grab and pull at the Australian's clothes, Penny slowly slid the fabric of her shirt off her shoulders. Taking her time. Savoring every moment. When she did pull away, it was only to let her lips travel downward, leaving a light trail of slow kisses along Lucy's neck, across her collarbone, to her shoulder. A shaking breath escaped her lips and onto her counterpart's skin as she felt that shared touch of regret.

Her hand slowly found its way back to the button of Lucy's pants; she continued to kiss the base of Lucy's neck - Once. Twice. Lingering on the third. – before she lightly pulled at the button. As she slid the Australian's shorts off, Penny leaned back, sitting herself on the edge of the bed as she gently pulled Lucy onto her lap, a hand wrapping around her figure before resting on the small of her back.

Penny pulled back slightly, only enough to try and catch Lucy's dark eyes. Her free hand tracing lightly down the barrel of the gun imprinted on the Australian. She took in a breath, trying to calm her racing heart. She wanted this girl so much. Too much. Every bit of her, Penny wanted to savor. Take in every detail. Desperately, Penny wanted to lose herself in her.

“It wasn't.” she said softly, making her voice barely audible before she leaned in, capturing Lucy's lips again.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Note: ftb

The reassuring words - simple in their delivery - had captured Lucy's mentality from the moment they left her mouth. The implications of such an admission were impossible to ignore. Impossible to forget.

Lucy had allowed herself to be lead. Moved. Guided. Anything requested of her, she'd offered. She simply couldn't help herself. She couldn't deny her, even if she wanted to.

She'd wrapped her arms around the physchometrist's shoulders, her hands getting lost through the darkened locks of her hair. She'd breathed as best she could. But every time she'd tried, this girl found new ways to steal it from her. Every touch pressed with an unwavering confidence, as if nothing could force her to falter. She had a point to prove, too. And Lucy had been all too willing to hear her out. To reciprocate it entirely.

Lucy felt completely lost. Not simply to the apologetic undertones of every singular move and moment she herself provided, but to her completely.

She couldn't think. Penny wouldn't allow her to and she honestly was grateful for that. For the way she could switch the ink manipulator's mind off and will her to surrender to these all encompassing moments. The type she wanted to hold onto. It surpassed the weighted connotations of the last emotionally enthralling encounter - the last time things had been like this. Where her words had failed her and she had been grateful for that, too.

And now - within such proximity - the erratically uneven rhythm of her heartbeat poured from her being into the form of her counterpart. Lucy still held an arm around her shoulders, keeping herself close as she trailed her other hand rhythmically through Penny's hair. A therapeutic repetition for herself - something to keep her focus grounded. Her breathing still remained heavy; heated against her as she turned her head and pressed her lips into her hair.

"I hate being away from you." She whispered, and for the first time, she didn't care how the admission made her sound.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny rolled her shoulders as she felt familiar arms wrap around them, familiar fingers run through her hair. She leaned in, sure she could feel Lucy’s heart beat simply due the proximity between them.

Her own breath was heavy as she pressed her lips to Lucy’s shoulder, still trying to take in everything she could of the Australian. Her free hand ran idly along her lower back, fingers making note of every detail. Every touch. Breath. Kiss. Moment. She wanted to remember every second of it. The psychometrist had little desire to ever build a memory around anything, but this moment – the connection – was something that Penny didn’t want to let go of.

She closed her eyes, focusing on the comforting feeling of Lucy’s hands through her hair, her heavy breath on the Brit’s skin. Yet, she hadn’t remained so for long; when Lucy spoke, it grabbed the psychometrist’s attention immediately, pulling her from her almost-daze. Her eyes opened as she took in another breath.

Again, the words felt more weighted than they intended to be.

“Then don’t go.” She replied softly, leaning into the kiss, her own lips pressing lightly against Lucy’s jaw.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

If Lucy had the capacity to think, she would have likely wondered over each and every moment she was spending with the psychometrist. Her mind would read into every minute detail with the intention of deciphering her. Who she was. What she meant. Why she was acting the way she was acting. But she couldn't think. She could barely level her breathing when she felt the familiar touch gently traversed her back. Each morsel of attention drew something paramount from Lucy. It hadn't been worth it; the distance.

Whatever point they were trying to prove wasn't worth it.

Truthfully, Lucy didn't expect any kind of reply. The response offered called for her to take in a breath - one she quickly lost when she felt familiar lips leaving a kiss on her jaw.

She knew she could have offered any number of responses. She could have said just that; She didn't want to go.

"I can't sleep when you're not around." Lucy replied instead, turning to rest her forehead against her counterpart's. She trailed her hands towards the base of her neck, her thumbs brushing across the line of the Brit's jaw. She didn't always stay with Penny, and Penny didn't always stay with her. It was becoming increasingly difficult to promote such distance. As much as she hadn't wanted to admit to such a thing, she couldn't help herself. It needed to be said. She deserved to know that much.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

The words made Penelope's heart pound; just when she thought it couldn't beat faster, her counterpart still managed to prove otherwise. Her lips involuntarily twitched against Lucy's jaw, pulling up into a smile. Admission of such things were rare for Lucy, and Penny knew that well enough by now.

It shouldn't had made her so happy to hear it. She knew it shouldn't. Penny was caught up in the moment; she she knew how she felt. How she should feel. It was conflicting. But hearing that accented voice say it was enough to capture Penny's breath.

The kiss she placed on Lucy's jaw faltered when Penny let the words sink in. She believed her, because she understood. Being away from her felt wrong. Logic could tell her to wait. That it wasn't real. Yet the psychometrist couldn't focus on the concept. She was too far wrapped up in the ink manipulator sitting on her lap.

Again, she let her lips lightly graze against Lucy's jaw. After a moment, she found the means to let go of the breath she had been holding. “I'll be there,” she paused for a second, not yet realizing the weight of her own words, “So you can sleep.” Because she wanted to be there. With her.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

When the admission fell, Lucy knew she was offering a piece of herself within the words she chose. It was rare for her to ever speak about her inability to sleep. It was a weakness - something she could do so little about. But things were undeniably easier in the company of her British counterpart. Since she'd left so inexplicably that morning, Lucy had become acutely aware of her presence. When she was there, she held on. And when she wasn't, she knew she searched the space anyway.

But again, she didn't expect a reply. Much less one so weighted. Her breath caught in her throat momentarily, and after a second or so she found the means to exhale it slowly. Unevenly, but she did try her best to stay level. To maintain stability. Her fingertips ran along the line of her jaw slowly. Tentatively. Careful to maintain each detail before moving on to trail across her neck on either side. Towards her shoulders. Across her collarbones before she raised a hand to rest underneath her chin and raise her head slowly.

There, she made a point of lightly brushing her lips across those of her counterpart. A slow, definitive kiss for the psychometrist. To say her response was a life line felt like an understatement.

She wanted to offer the fact that she wanted her there. She needed her to be there. But such phrases felt so obvious. She knew them already.

Lucy knew she knew.

So when she inhaled slowly, the ink manipulator closed her eyes and felt her mouth twitch into an involuntary smile. She chose to rest her features within the smoothed strands of her dark hair she'd so recently run her fingers through. But this time, a singular word carried itself through the exhale she breathed; "Penelope."

Distinct. Alleviated. Like she genuinely believed this girl was that girl. And she always would be.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Her dark eyes opened to look at Lucy as she felt the pressure of her counterpart's hand under her chin. She allowed herself to be moved freely, her own hand moving to rest on the small of Lucy's back. As soon as she felt Lucy's lips brush against her own, she reciprocated the kiss with just as much slow intention as the Australian offered.

Penny's free hand wandered upward, reaching to seek out Lucy's; once she found it, her fingers instinctively intertwined with the other's. The ink manipulator's uneven breath against her skin causing her to lightly squeeze Lucy's hand.

Hearing Lucy's accent wrap around her name drew a genuine smile from the Brit, one that she rarely showed to anyone but her, but had been starting to show more of itself as of late. It was the first time she had ever been referred to as her proper name by Lucy. Even if it was simply her name, hearing it come from her made all the difference. The three syllables made her chest tighten. Her heart pound. Any air she had left in her lungs escaped in a single unconscious exhale. Closing her eyes, her hand moved up across the Australian's back, fingers tracing along her spine before eventually settling on the back of Lucy's neck.

Lucy didn't have to say anything else. She didn't need to. Like the pang of regret that hit them both in an unspoken moment, Penelope felt like she reached an understanding with this girl. And she believed it, too.