You're Doing What...? (Lucy and Penelope)

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh was making her way through the co-ed floor of the dorm building, carrying the bag of flour in her arms. She yawned, forcing her mouth shut to stifle it to the best of her abilities. It had been a relatively boring night, her spending the majority of the time sitting around with her homework and the flour baby in her lap. Pretty uneventful. She kept a low profile on the main floor of the dorm, instead of seeking out other fellow insomniacs. Knowing her luck, it would be someone bent on destructing the damn thing and she already had enough to worry about with Lucy.

Not that she didn't trust the tattooed girl. No, Carleigh had gotten over that. At least, she thought so. Their banter and 'wifey' jokes kept things interesting during the otherwise boring project, enough so that it (hopefully) discouraged Lucy from making pancakes or cookies from its innards. 

Approaching dorm 202, Carleigh knocked twice, her eyes almost half shut. She needed coffee in her system, now. She waited patiently, as the girls didn't have a strict schedule on caring for it. Which meant that Carleigh lugged the thing around more often than not. Once the door opened, she extended her arms out. "Good morning, my lovely wife." Carleigh greeted with a sleepy smile. "Your turn for baby duty."    

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The main reason why Lucy stipulated no nights with her new found child was because she never slept alone. And the last thing she really wanted to do was even think of a bag of flour when she was in bed with her psychometrist.

That morning was no exception to the rule, but at least Lucy was in her own room. She'd completely forgotten the fact that she agreed to take over things in the morning, because it was the morning. Even if Penny was awake, Lucy just wasn't. Not until there was a definitive knock at the door, and it seemed to draw her from whatever sleep she was still trying to get. Slowly, as she always did, she pulled herself away from the psychometrist who tried to keep her close, as she always did.

She'd waited as long as she could, wishing to all hell that someone - likely Dani - would get up and answer it. But it was evident soon enough that this wasn't going to happen. Eventually, Lucy reasoned that she'd be right back, and so she begrudgingly freed herself from the lingering hands of her British counterpart.

Given the short amount of time she planned to be away, the Australian made a mild attempt at throwing clothes together. An oversized buttoned up shirt was key - it meant she didn't need to worry about pants. Or at least, she was pretty sure she didn't.

Running her fingers through her hair, she drew the dark locks to one side as she left her room and approached the common room door. She pulled it open, enough to stand in the gap as she leaned her weight against the door itself. When she opened her eyes, she squinted her eyes at her flour baby wife. Her optimism was enough to cause the ink manipulator's nose to crinkle. "Are you fucking with me?" She asked, raising her free hand to run her fingers across her own jaw. "Now? Really? You didn't even bring coffee."

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh waited patiently by the door, at least, patiently for the first minute. She began tapping her one foot, a frown on her face. Was Lucy not awake? It wouldn't be responsible to ditch the flour baby, with anyone capable of coming by and destroying it. She shifted her weight, leaning against the wall with a small sigh.

As soon as the door opened, Carleigh stood up straight, greeting her wife. She eyed her, wearing the flannel shirt. Carleigh tilted her head to the side, a quizzical expression on her face. Had she still been sleeping? She felt sort of bad... the blonde hardly ever kept track of time anymore, as she awake nearly 24/7. "I'm sorry, was this too early?" Carleigh asked with a frown, pulling out her phone to check the time. "I.." She trailed off, shifting again.

"Well, I've already had a pot of coffee..." Carleigh admitted. Anymore and the bubbly blonde would be even jumpier. "So I didn't even think about it. I can totally go grab you some."

Or leave all together. Lucy didn't look too thrilled at the moment. 

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy was, by many means, not a morning person. She'd only recently found the means to quell her inability to sleep at night, and being periodically woken at six in the morning every morning to adhere to someone else's schedule still took getting used to. Broken sleep was useless sleep.

Still, she watched the way Carleigh eyed what she was wearing, and in that moment she looked down at herself. In the tired muddling mess that was her attempt to put something on in the first place, she'd misplaced a few buttons to the wrong hole. It hung a little weird, but she was convinced she needed her hand against the door to keep her upright.

"Don't apologise," Lucy started idly, "It's cute."

Lucy raised her eyebrows on instinct when Carleigh mentioned already having coffee. "You pounded that out, huh. No wonder we're married." She replied. But her wife's offer to actually go get her some caused her to offer something of a genuine smile on instinct. No wonder she'd felt the urge to kiss her; this girl was too nice. "Nah, come in." She retracted her hand from the door, pushing it open with a foot and extending her hands out.

"How's my beautiful bae this morning?" She asked, making a point of closing and opening her hands periodically as she waited, "And Wonder Girl too, duh."

[Carleigh Davidson]

A smile spread across her face, as Carleigh eyed the flannel shirt Lucy was wearing. It was hastily put together, but she still... the tattooed girl somehow managed to look good. It was super cute.

She blushed when Lucy mentioned her stammering was cute. Was it? Carleigh looked at Lucy a little longer than necessary, nodding. "Okay, I just hardly keep track of morning and night." It was all one endless cycle. She slept whenever her mind let her, be it in the middle of the library or at four in the morning.

Ever since manifestation, Carleigh had used coffee as a crutch to counteract the sleepless nights. She drank it, a lot. Even that was an understatement. Carleigh grinned back at Lucy. "How else do you think I manage to be so cheerful?" She asked, nodding in response. The blonde made a mental note to bring a cup of coffee next time she came by to drop off Cassandra.

She followed her inside the dorm, looking around the place. Didn't look different from her own, besides the fact that this was co-ed and hers was not. "I'm doing alright. Didn't sleep." She said with a shrug. Carleigh had tried journalling some responses for the project, but find it... blah. Adjusting the sack of flour, Carleigh lightly bounced it in her arms. "She's great. Gonna be a little heartbreaker I'm sure."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Tired or no, Lucy had the capacity to notice the colour on her wife's cheeks. The lazy grin the Australian wore was proof of that. "Sun up, sun down, sweetheart." Lucy replied, though she completely understood the way the two could get completely muddled.

She couldn't help but reach out towards her when she mentioned coffee being the reason she was so cheerful. The ink manipulator cupped the blonde's chin in her hand lightly; "Thought it was just the love of a good woman." Though really, she doubted anything about herself was really all that good.

Lucy turned and walked back into the common room, aware that Carleigh was following her. She felt the ink on her thigh shift slightly, and if the blonde took the time to notice, she'd catch the seemingly judgemental eyes of King Varian on her. He seemed curious; as curious as supposedly lifeless ink could offer.

For now, she allowed Carleigh to carry their kid as she made her way towards the kitchenette, flicking on the kettle and searching for two cups. Coffee, instant or not, was definitely required for a decent conversation here. She offered something of an understanding sound to the fact that her wife couldn't sleep as she leaned into the counter, her hand crossing the surface and catching on an idle sharpie she'd likely left behind. "If she gets a face like yours? People'll be falling for her left and right." Lucy replied, waving a hand in her direction.

"C'mon, gimme." She said, her eyes on the flour baby.

[Carleigh Davidson]

The light pink colour on Carleigh's cheeks deepened with embarrassment, as she shook her head. She opened her mouth to argue that she knew the order and how it all worked, when Lucy had placed her hand on her face. The blonde froze in response, locking eyes with her wife with a somewhat confused expression on her face. The love of a good woman? Carleigh didn't say a word, standing there and allowing Lucy's words to wash over her. "I'm offended you assumed you're not part of the equation, love." She finally said, as Lucy turned away.

Obediently, Carleigh followed. She didn't question coming over to Lucy's room in the morning, or what she said. The blonde didn't even question their kiss anymore, which still left her thoughts reeling. Her eyes flitted down Lucy's backside, landing on another tattoo. Was she surprised? No. Carleigh shifted as the tattoo... just stared at her. It made her a little uncomfortable. Then again, wasn't it a little wrong of her to have lingering sights towards Lucy's backside?

Carleigh didn't know. She pressed her back against the counter, leaning against it with a yawn. After their time together, she had already gotten over the fear of Lucy making pancakes out of the flour. Plus, the baby had a name now. Easier to get attached to. Without question, the blonde extended her arms and gave Lucy Cassandra with a sleepy smile. "There you go wifey."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy had been gone for too long.

The moment Lucy had pulled herself from Penny's grasp, the psychometrist pulled the covers up, covering her bare shoulders as she tried to maintain the warmth left in the bed. Normally, it was her that crawled out of bed first, and Penny felt strange laying in the Australian's bed alone.

Yet Lucy had said she wouldn't be long, so she her go. Raising her eyebrows at King Varian as the ink manipulator pulled on a shirt. She hadn't thought much of the fact her counterpart hadn't put on pants, simply because the fact alone alone had distracted the Brit.

Minutes passed, and the Australian never made it back to her dorm. Her bed. And it felt impossible for Penny to completely settle. So she pushed the covers off, neatly making the bed before choosing to slip some clothes on.

Surprisingly, she had yet to bring a variety of clothes to the ink manipulator's dorm, the only outfit she had was a dress, something she wasn't quite ready to put on yet. Instead, she made her way to Lucy's closet, choosing to slip on an oversized white and burgundy baseball shirt. It wasn't exactly the Brit's style, but she just needed something to cover herself up in the slightest.

It was enough to acceptably leave the dorm. Had Penny realized that someone else was there, she would have put something more appropriate on, but it wasn't uncommon for Lucy to make coffee once she was forced out of bed, and the psychometrist simply assumed that was what her Australian was doing.

So when she opened the door and found not just her counterpart, but her the girl she was partnered with in the kitchenette, Penny paused in the doorway, eyebrows raised. Her dark eyes immediately went to the blonde, catching the way she looked at her Australian. The conversation at hand hadn't helped, either. Wifey? Her lips pressed together into a hard line. “Hello.”

Penelope was not amused.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

“So I am the equation.” Lucy denoted quickly, though of course, she noticed the deeper shade of red her new found wife was sporting. The way she froze slightly within her hand. Still, she couldn’t really help herself.

When the tattoo on her thigh caught Carleigh’s eyes, the corner of his mouth dragged up and he offered her a crooked grin. Such was the way when some eyes lingered for too long, and it was amusing.

Setting each cup down, she threw a fair amount of instant coffee in one, and settled a teabag in the other. She glanced up as the blonde finally extended the little sack of flour out for her. “Aren’t you trusting?” The Australian asked, raising her eyebrows once as she hooked an arm around the baby they shared and hauled it into her side. “You want something?” She asked, indicating to the cups she already had.

That was when she actually registered another voice. Specifically, an accent.

As always, it was impossible for Lucy to stop herself from smiling the moment she saw Penny. But it didn’t take long for her eyes to wander. She’d seen the psychometrist in a hell of a lot less, but she’d never seen her in something she herself owned. Eyes stuck as they were, she sunk her teeth into the cap of her sharpie and drew the pen away, twisting it between her fingers and pressing it into the base of the pen instead.

“This’s Carleigh.” Lucy said, indicating to her with the pen as she quickly dropped her head. She pressed the pen into the left side of the flour sack and started to draw, her dark hair hanging over either side of her face. Anything to hide the fact that she was relatively sure she was blushing lightly; “We had Wonder Girl together. And we’re married.”

Still, she managed to breathe a laugh, “Water’s still boiling.”

[Carleigh Davidson]

"Of course." Carleigh answered, without a sense of hesitation.

When the tattoo on Lucy's thigh offered her a smile, she shifted, eyes lingering for a few seconds more. She felt... uncomfortable. Only because she had been staring for a long period of time. Thankfully, it was just the tattoo that noticed. Carleigh did not want to imagine how red her face would have been had Lucy been the one to notice.

Her eyes landed on Lucy's general form, as she handed over the flour sack. Nonchalantly, Carleigh shrugged with a snort. "I have no reason to believe you'll destroy it. I like to believe you have at least a little bit of respect for my wishes." At her next question, Carleigh nodded. "Coffee, please." She couldn't turn down a cup of joe, especially when offered by her lovely wife.

At the sound of another voice, Carleigh jumped at the seemingly cold voice greeting them. The blonde eyed the other dark haired girl, who had what she assumed was a... British accent? Either way, Carleigh wasn't feeling good vibes from the girl. Briefly, she wondered what she had done to already earn a sour look from her, but brushed it off with a small wave. "Nice to meet you."

"Married... yeah." Carleigh repeated, though judging by her facial expression, she was sure that wasn't going to go over well. She looked between the two girls, curiously. Was that a little bit of a blush she saw on her wife's cheeks? Carleigh opened her mouth to tease Lucy, when she finally noticed that she was pressing a Sharpie to the side of Cassandra.

Woah woah woah!

"What're you doing?" She asked, a frown crossing her face. "Aren't babies the ones that are suppose to be drawing on everything?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny simply watched as the blonde jumped, surprised by Penny’s presence. She couldn’t help but to notice the blush on her cheeks. Rightfully so. “Pleasure.” She stated offhandedly. British passive aggression at its finest.

Her attention quickly drew to Lucy, the reason why she had left the warmth of her counterpart’s bed in the first place. Was today a day for wandering eyes? Penny was well aware of where the Australian’s gaze was falling.

The Brit’s own gaze fell on Lucy’s mouth, and the sharpie stuck between her teeth. Penny was positive that the Australian had no idea how to pull off the cap of the markers with just her fingers.

But before she could dwell on the thought, Penny’s eyebrows furrowed together as Lucy’s head dropped. She was acting strange. The psychometrist took a few steps forward, towards her counterpart as she rested a hand on the countertop, nails running along the surface of it.

Now closer to Lucy, she could definitely see that something was off. Penny’s gaze never faltered as she gestured to Carleigh, nor did it when Lucy started to draw on the pair’s so called child. Yet, before she could say anything, Carleigh cut in, noting how Lucy was drawing on the flour bag.

It was only then did the Brit look at Carleigh again. "It was inevitable for her to deface it." She quickly glanced back at Lucy before reaching forward, fingers brushing against the Australian's as she went to take her sharpie.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

At least Lucy had managed to swing another cup down before the interaction with her wife was altered by a third party.

The only time Lucy looked away from what she was doing was when she realised the psychometrist had come closer. The way she could hear her nails across the counter. It was distracting, but not distracting enough to warrant a shift in her position. She was trying her best not to laugh at the awkward altercation between the two of them. "This is Penny." She pointed out, finding amusement in a nickname over what she knew the Brit preferred. There was still no other way to describe her.

Lucy grinned to herself when Carleigh started panicking. Already, she was finding her stride again. "All part of the job, remember?" Lucy replied, "You said you trusted me."

And then she came in closer.

"Do I look defaced to you?" Lucy asked her, glancing up on instinct. There, the lightened colour on her cheeks had all-but faded. And she'd forgotten it was a factor in favour of defending her own tattoos. She even looked at Carleigh and raised her eyebrows. The blonde was free to weigh in on the question, too.

Proximity was a killer, yes. But contact was arguably so much worse. And Penny knew that. The moment her fingers brushed across her own, she dropped the sharpie down to the counter.

And she quickly retracted her hand, resting it against the scrambled ink she'd drawn onto the sack of flour. "Don't need it." Lucy pointed out, shifting the ink to produce a lion similar to the one on her forearm. She looked to Carleigh instead; "Now we match. How else would you know it's mine too, bae?"

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh nodded in response, even if she had her doubts that Penny actually meant it. She idly tapped her foot against the floor, watching their interaction. "Hey Penny." The blonde added with another sweet smile. Who was she to know it was a nickname? Carleigh had never seen the other girl before, and even then, only recently encountered Lucy.

Frowning, she probably would have reached out and fought for possession of Cassandra... the bag of flour had Lucy's roommate (or whatever relationship she had with her wife. The blonde was kind of curious now) not been there. Her instincts were telling her that the other girl probably wouldn't appreciate it.

Especially when Carleigh noticed how Lucy had fallen, just like that, from the simple touch of Penny. She smirked. Oh, she would so be bringing this up to her wife later. Who knew that Lucy had a soft spot for someone? Redirecting her focus back to the problem at hand, Carleigh shook her head. "I do trust you, but... I'm just not sure if that counts as ruining the baby. Even if Cassandra's totally badass and can handle the ink no problem."

Carleigh's head snapped up when she felt Penny look at her, and snorted. "Actually, she's been doing pretty good. Managed to convince her not to make pancakes out of the innards so." She'd be lying if she said she wasn't proud of that moment.

"Defacing it isn't the problem... I just don't want to fail." Carleigh pouted, meeting Lucy's eyes again. "... I guess." She finally relented, crossing her arms and digging her fingertips into the skin. Carleigh hated losing arguments, but Lucy did have a point. "I guess there was nowhere stated we couldn't have creative freedoms."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

“Penelope.” The Brit corrected in response to the pair using the unwanted nickname. Again, her gaze shifted to this girl. That exceedingly sweet smile. The psychometrist simply offered a small nod in her direction.

She watched how the blonde interacted with Lucy, mentally picking apart everything the girl had to say. At least she cared about the project; then again she seemed to be taking this baby ordeal a tad too seriously in the Brit’s eyes. So she shifted her attention back to the ink manipulator as she spoke.

As Lucy looked up, Penny held her gaze. It was a brief moment of eye contact, but it was still there. Enough to register the look in her eyes. And when the ink manipulator shifted her gaze, Penny’s fell on the color in her cheeks.

Lucy Serrano was blushing. That was a rare sight indeed.

Penny couldn’t stop the smug smile that pulled at the corner of her mouth. “You’re also not a sack of flour covered in sharpie marker.” Penny pointed out.

Yet things only gotten better as Lucy actually dropped the sharpie. Penny raised her eyebrows, catching the way her counterpart withdrew her hand. How she tried to again focus on the inanimate object at her side.

Penny reached out again, this time bypassing the Australian and taking hold of the sharpie, capping it before setting it back down. Briefly, her jaw tensed at the nickname her counterpart provided the blonde. “The water’s boiling.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

“Penny for short.” Lucy edited as quickly as the full name had passed her British counterpart’s lips. It was, if nothing else, easy.

The eye contact with Penny wasn’t ignored. Nor was it forgotten. And Lucy did choose to take what she said on board. The Australian was well aware just how invested the Brit was in her tattoos. She knew just how much attention she chose to given them. “Bit choosey then, aye?” She asked, this time offering a feigned smile as she glanced back up.

Still, she couldn’t stop herself from grinning at the interaction in the Home Ec room. Not so easily forgotten. “Appreciate the trust, wifey.” She replied, looking at Carleigh with a knowing smile. She’d cash in for those pancakes. One day. Nevertheless, Lucy caught the pout on the blonde’s mouth and felt he need to act accordingly, putting on her best, albeit fakest concerned tone; “Sweets, you’re in the presence of an inking master. If she’s got a problem with it, I can always make it go away for you.” Not that she would. Really, the amused smile that snapped onto her face must have been proof of that. Trust. It was all about trust.

Her attention was then flagged by new information; boiling water. She made a point of passing Wonder Girl off to her wife before she did anything else. “I got it,” She started, resting her hand on Penny’s arm for the briefest of moments before she realised that was a terrible idea on her part, and she quickly drew away. Lucky she had somewhere to put her focus.

“So anyway,” Lucy started, tossing a quick glance to her wife in tandem with a short, sharp raise of her eyebrows. “How’s your boyfriend, Pen?” Lucy asked, opting not to glance at her as she poured the necessary water. “He looked a bit flighty. Reckon he was about to run the second he saw you.” Though really, Lucy had hardly spent much time with noticing them. Her attention had been ravelled up in the blonde nearby. Turning away in order to search the fridge for necessary milk, she swung the door open and leaned against it idly.

“How’d you manage the making of?” She asked, giving her best smirk to the contents of the fridge. An even playing field. That was all she needed.