Smile For the Morning Light

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope Blaise was a morning person. She always was. How a morning went typically lead how the rest of her day was, so the Brit made an effort to be productive and efficient with her morning routine.

Just... not today.

When she woke, the Brit immediately felt a searing pain spreading from her temples to the corners of her mind. Immediately, she reached for her counterpart. It was her natural reaction in the morning, even in such discomfort. As her fingers found the familiar form, she shifted closer to the Australian, pressing her forehead against whatever part of Lucy was nearest.

Upon opening her eyes, the faintest amount of light caused her to squeeze them shut again. She brought her hand up, pinching the bridge her her nose and letting out a disgruntled groan.

Right. She drank last night.

“What time is it?” She asked, or rather, grumbled against Lucy's skin. Her eyes remained shut tight as she continued to hide her face against Lucy's form.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy was incredibly used to being that person; the one who looked after intoxicated individuals. By now, it was like second nature. So of course she knew that this morning would be no different, especially given the obvious knowledge that it was Penny's first real encounter with alcohol. For the Australian, the prior night had been hilarious.

The moment she realised the psychometrist had stirred, she already had Lucy's focus. She felt Penny move towards her, hiding her face in the nook of the ink manipulator's shoulder to likely hide her eyes from the evident light. Penny was a morning person. Lucy wasn't. And it was incredible unusual to hear such a groan wrapped in her accent as opposed to her own.

Involuntarily Lucy had to laugh, offering a low chuckle to the question she posed.

"Well past six." She replied, vaguely. Lucy immediately drew her in, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and holding her closer. "Didn't seem right to wake you. You'da felt worse."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

The repercussions of a hangover were worse than she could have imagined. At least she, unlike Sawyer, hadn't gotten sick. The prior night was slightly fuzzy, but the psychometrist was able to recall everything that happened, fortunately.

Another disgruntled noise passed Penny's lips as she heard her counterpart laugh. Had her face not been hidden, Lucy would have been able to see the way Penny's eyebrows furrowed together. It wasn't funny. It was horrible.

Still, she nuzzled closer into Lucy, her hold on the ink manipulator never loosening, even as she felt Lucy pull her in closer. Although the contact did nothing to stop her headache, it still put the psychometrist at ease.

“Mmm...” It didn't surprise her that it was past six, and she was thankful for not being woken earlier. It was painful enough being awake now. Still, this was Penelope Blaise, a girl somewhat obsessed with time. “How much past six?” She mumbled.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Of course Penny was going to ask for specifics. Lucy rolled her shoulders lightly, shrugging at the concept of specifics. "Couple of hours." The Australian mused lightly, crinkling her nose at the questionable guess. "Dunno, really. But I know six, and this isn't six."

And she'd never exactly been thrilled about being woken up at six by her counterpart's usual routine. Nevertheless, Lucy couldn't stop the amused smile she wore. The way it poured into her voice the more she spoke. For the most part, she'd just be glad if it managed to drown out the tired quality of her tone.

"What do you need?" She asked instead.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

And of course Lucy didn't know the exact time. Part of Penny wondered why she asked. The only source of time the Australian had in her room was her computer and phone. “I'm buying you a clock.” Still, she accepted her counterpart's answer. For once, it was too much effort to figure out the specifics.

The amused tone in Lucy's voice wasn't lost to the Brit. It made her way into Penny's mentality even past the screaming headache, and she let out another incomprehensible noise of annoyance.

“You.” She replied. It was the first response to come to her mind, because it was true. She simply wanted Lucy. Needed her. Penny kissed her shoulder. “And aspirin.” Never one for painkillers, this felt necessary.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"You can keep it in your room." Lucy retorted immediately. She had no real desire to own a clock. If she did, she'd likely do something about it. But probably not. By now she should have been acutely aware of the fact that Penny seemed to know best.

What Lucy had quickly learned was that Penny was an irritable individual when she was hungover. And given the fact that she was usually irritable as it was, she really should have known better.

Still, she grinned when Penny answered her, until her counterpart asked for pain killers. "It's not gonna do you much good, Pen." She replied honestly. But with a small shift, she tried to draw herself away. "But if it's what you reckon you want, you're gonna have to let me go."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny raised scoffed lightly, taking her counterpart's statement as something of a challenge. She'd have to get a clock just to see what Lucy would do with it. Just later. Not today. Today she wasn't moving.

“I'm not a writing utensil.” She replied quickly, although honestly the nickname wasn't so bad when the Australian's accent wrapped around it. However, Penny certainly was an irritable individual when hungover.

And when she shifted, Penny only held on tighter, her arms wrapping around Lucy so she couldn't get away. “No.” The idea of Lucy leaving her side was far worse than any headache she could have. Not to mention, her counterpart stated it wouldn't make it better, and she was sure Lucy had far more experience with hangovers than the usually dry Brit.

“Stay. Please.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"I don't give a right fuck." Lucy snapped, unknowingly at first. Still, the evident disconnect from the nickname she'd given such little thought to wasn't lost on her. She made a mental note not to use it.

It didn't surprise her that Penny didn't want her to leave, though Lucy didn't exactly expect her to physically hold on the way she was. But the moment Penny asked her to stay, she knew she had no chance of leaving. Though in reality, she didn't even need to ask.

"I'd be gone for like, a minute." Lucy pointed out, though she made no real move to pull away. "You're at least gonna need some water. It's probably why you've got a roaring bloody headache in the first place." Because really, Penny didn't need to tell her she had a headache for Lucy to guess it was so. And it wasn't as if it was easy for her to get up; she was caught between the wall and the psychometrist.

It never mattered before. How often did she ever move to get up first?

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny pouted against Lucy's shoulder when her counterpart snapped back at her. She admittedly deserved it, but that hadn't stopped the Brit from disliking it.

“I don't care.” A minute was still a minute. Although seemingly pathetic in this needy state, Penny didn't particularly care how she sounded. The slightest movement only brought on a new wave of pain in her head, and she didn't bother to question how Lucy knew about it.

She couldn't deny that water sounded like an excellent idea, however. She still tasted the alcohol in her mouth, and she was positive she was dehydrated. “In a minute.” Penny still wasn't ready for either her or Lucy to move quite yet.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Evidently, a hungover Penny was every bit as pushy as a drunk Penny. Or really, this version was a little worse when it came to getting what she felt she needed.

But at least she listened to reason, even if it was on her own terms. "Fine. A minute." She reiterated, allowing the psychometrist to settle into her side.

At least at such an angle where she couldn't readily see the change in Lucy's expression.

"How much do you remember?" Lucy asked, raising her eyebrows. She refused to waste energy trying to settle the amusement on her features. The tired quality of her dark eyes. Without really waiting for an answer, the ink manipulator deftly pressed on; "You're really vocal."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

As she settled, Penny finally opened her eyes. She blinked a few times to adjust to the light, do little effort to hide the pained expression in her features as she did so. It was then that she mentally determined she was never going to drink an ounce of alcohol again.

Even when Lucy agreed on a minute, the psychometrist had no intent on moving in sixty seconds.

She glanced up at Lucy's question, here eyebrows again knitting together at the amusement her counterpart clearly wore. Everything. But she hadn't the chance to reply before Lucy continued, and Penny's eyes widened at her statement.

“I--” She stumbled through a reply. “I know.” Denying it was futile, and she hoped simply admitting it would make the conversation dissipate.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Instantly, the simple grin Lucy wore grew into a deserving smirk. It had been a fair while since she'd caused her psychometric counterpart to stumble over a sentence about anything like this. And once started, it was always hard to stop.

"You said a lot." Lucy detailed, a touch of smugness pouring into her expression. "Not just to me I'm guessing. Is that why you're fucking up your words already?"

Closing her eyes, the ink manipulator idly ran her tongue between her lips before pressing on as nonchalantly as such an expert could; "Or are you talking about the sex?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny knew the moment she stumbled over her words that she made a mistake. Lucy Serrano was, if anything, an expert at making Penelope falter. And this moment was proof of that.

“I know.” She tried again, lips pressing into a hard line as she watched Lucy's expression shift just slightly. The Brit let out a short huff as Lucy both called her out and swore again. How was this in any way fair to treat somebody that was hungover? Then again, Lucy Serrano wasn't exactly traditional with anything, so it shouldn't have surprised Penny to see she wasn't with this, either.

“I'm not.” She lied, knowing well that both she and Lucy were aware of how she was. Her gaze dropped to the ink manipulator's mouth, unsure to be annoyed or enticed by the way Lucy ran her tongue across her lips.

“That water sounds pretty nice right about now.” Penny groaned, turning her face back into the nook of Lucy's shoulder in an attempt to hide the blush that was beginning to color her cheeks.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Despite every interruption Penny tried to offer, Lucy had found a tangent, and was incredibly willing to stick to it. Especially when she sounded like that.

And yet somehow she knew she'd try to shift the subject by getting Lucy to move. Of course she did. That's partly why she brought it up in the moment she did. But she was far too invested by now to care to move. That, she could do later.

"Hmm," Lucy feigned a musing sound as she pursed her lips, "I dunno. I reckon I've got a good forty seconds left." It was in that moment - that break of time - where she was increasingly glad she didn't own any kind of clock. It could very well become the most daunting string of seconds in the psychometrist's life. "I reckon that's enough time to tell you how different it is when you're not trying so hard to keep yourself quiet."

But primarily, that was hardcore speculation. So she asked; "That what you do?" Lucy even made a point of drawing away enough to try and catch her expression as she continued, "Are you hinting at something? Is that what I'm meant to do from now on? Is that what you want?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Somehow, Penny knew that Lucy wasn't going to move or even allow the change of subject. She was dealing with Lucy, after all. This girl was going to run with it, wasn't she?

Her fingers trailed lightly along her counterpart's stomach, her eyes squeezing shut. “I'm certain it's been a minute.” She pressed. If she couldn't get the Australian to move, Penny was at least hoping to distract her with a slow change in subject.

But she was back at it again.

“Shut up.” She wasn't that loud, was she? She kept her face hidden, her words muffled as she spoke against Lucy's skin. “It's not that different.”

But as Lucy pressed forward, Penny looked back up at the ink manipulator. “No.” She replied far more quickly than she had anticipated. “I mean--” She paused, and cursed herself for doing so, “Don't stop.”