Time Unrests Me

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Monday, July 28th

The trip back to Vermont was relatively smooth; Penelope was never a fan of flying, but doing so was more time efficient and generally less stressful than being crammed on a bus for several hours longer. And just like the last time she had flown into Burlington, the Brit found herself glad to be in Vermont. This time more so than ever.

Because it had been over three weeks. Three long weeks without being able to properly talk to Lucy Serrano. Technology made the distance a bit easier to handle, but having a screen and almost ten-thousand miles physically between herself and the Australian was difficult. Texting proved effective, but hardly the most secure means of communication.

Returning to Pilot Ridge so before her holiday ended was hardly an easy task; the Blaise family was passive aggressive at its best. When Penelope informed her mother she wanted to return almost a month before she had to, Anna Blaise agreed. At an unspoken price.

But it was surely worth it.

She took precise steps up to the familiar dormitory. The one that wasn’t her own. She hadn’t the time to drop off her bags in the floor above; she wouldn’t waste time on such a meaningless task. She hadn’t bothered to knock on the common room door. It was always unlocked, and this proved to be no different. However, she did stop at the second door, fingers uncurling from the strap of her bag as she knocked.

Sucking in a breath, Penny waited a moment before twisting the handle and pushing the door open.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Having been back for a week, Lucy could have easily argued that it was the most difficult week of her life. She likened it to her earlier years at Hammel; being relatively introverted with that abrasively sharp attitude towards almost anyone who came near. Sawyer’s company seemed to settle her as best it could – as best she could – but it was hardly enough. Her first week of classes was a blur. The repetition was a painful drag. But she had something important to wait for. It was the only thing she could think of. Focus on.

It was, in a word; everything.

Settled at her computer with her feet up on the desk, the Australian twisted her mouth to one side as she glanced at the time. She wasn’t one to check the time so frequently, but this was clearly different. Lucy tapped her index finger against the mouse, brushing her other hand across the edge of the etched desk before drawing it across the unsettled ink at her skin. Over a week later and it was still piloting slow laps around her thigh.

Sure enough, there was the all-important knock the ink manipulator had been waiting for. It caused Lucy to jump first, and within the next moment she was scrambling out of her seat and taking fast steps to the door.

As she reached for the handle, it opened. She so rarely opened it without waiting.

Lucy saw her.

She took a breath. Her gaze flicked down for a mere moment as she dropped her jaw. When she looked up, she looked desperate.

But she smiled.

And she caught her momentum again. Lucy took a half step towards her, breaching the doorway and pressing her hands to either side of her face as she leaned in and kissed her. It was impossible to strip the intention from the instinctive move. And it was hard to stop as she trailed her hands from the base of her psychometrist’s neck down to curl around her arms. To draw her in with a few back steps. All the while, she was still smiling.

It was impossible to stop.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny rarely came through the door without some sort of prompt, but this was different. Waiting any longer wasn’t an option, and as she pushed it open, there she was. She had barely waited before she twisted the handle, but somehow Lucy Serrano had made it to the door within those few seconds.

Her breath caught, and an uncontrollable smile pulled at her lips. It was uncommon for such a wide smile to spread across her features, but it was just as uncommon for her to miss the presence of a person. So she smiled.

Just as Lucy moved again, Penny met her halfway to kiss her with matched desperation. Nor could she ignore or deny the way she reciprocated with such intention. Her hand left the door handle, reaching up to curl her fingers around the collar of Lucy’s shirt to as she pulled her closer. Even the slightest of distances were too much. The curve of her lip only made Penny’s own grow as she felt it against her lips. She recalled the way Lucy kissed her dozens of times while she was away, refusing to forget the way she felt, but a memory was nothing compared to this. This was real. And Penelope so desperately needed it.

Feeling the way her counterpart eased her close and passed the frame of the door, Penny followed without resistance. She only pulled her hand away from the ink manipulator as a means to close the door behind her with a definitive click. Because she had Lucy again, and she didn’t want to share that moment with anyone else.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Already, Lucy felt the definitive way her heartbeat quickened. She could practically hear it in her own ears, feeling the heat suddenly rise in her cheeks when her hands brushed her collarbones by accident. The way the door closed was nothing but a distant encounter; an insignificant backdrop to a more intricate point of interest. Because she could feel the way Penny was smiling. And once more, she could actually feel her.

Raising a hand to her shoulder, the Australian let go only to curl her fingers around the strap of the bag she'd brought with her. She untangled it from her counterpart's arm, letting it fall to the floor wherever it was destined to land.

For a brief, sliver of a moment, Lucy thought to pull away. She wanted to make it so clear how much she missed her. How much she loved her. How difficult everything had been without her. She thought about how easy it would have been in those moments to say all those things; that she wouldn't hesitate as she almost always did and falter at the most important moment.

But she didn't. Lucy didn't let the thought distract her as it so easily could have.

Rather, she let her other hand fall to her waist, her fingers curling into the material of her dress on instinct. The only moment she broke the imperative chain of kisses was when she took a sharp breath against her lips out of necessity. It did little to quell the fire in her lungs as she breached that minimal distance and kissed her again.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny cared little about the bag on her shoulder, and as Lucy took hold of it, she shifted her arm, working with the Australian’s movements to free it from her arm. She didn’t care where it landed; that hardly mattered. More importantly, she focused on bringing her hand back to the form she missed so desperately, letting it dip under the material of her shirt as she pressed her palm to the Australian’s bare back.

She couldn’t find the means to spare a second to anything else. Had she tried to speak, she knew her words wouldn’t do justice to how she felt. How much she missed Lucy. Loved her. So she kissed her, pouring more emotion into the physical response than words could.

As Lucy broke the kiss, Penny sucked in a much needed breath. She barely had time to before her counterpart kissed her again, and it hadn’t mattered if hadn’t fully caught her breath, she doubted she would have been able to anyway. Penny took a few intentional steps forward, bringing herself closer to the Australian while leading her – them – back to the bed. The hand on her counterpart’s back trailed up her spine, pulling the material of her shirt upward as she did so.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Despite how much she didn't want to break contact, Lucy couldn't help the way she exhaled against her lips. It was barely a moment of distance. Barely worth mentioning. But the feeling of her hand against her back was too much. It was impossible not to react.

As her heart raced further still, she felt the ache of the heightened blood flow through her arms. So evident that it practically burned, she couldn't even consider stopping or stalling or even slowing her paces. This was detailed desperation, and so as Penny took definite steps to lead her backwards, Lucy followed along without an ounce of hesitation.

Without a look, Lucy allowed her hand to trail across her arm, catching her other hand underneath her own. Curling her fingers between hers, she drew them down the contours of her own form before settling it at the line of her shorts. No belts today. And no insufferable skin tight jeans.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

FtB

Even then, it felt impossible to draw away. Penny’s breath wavered across Lucy’s collarbone as she kept her eyes closed, lips brushing across the surface. She didn’t draw away; the only real movement she offered was that to roll her shoulders, an attempt to ease away the residual ache the reddened lines across them caused. It never bothered; the way she held on was enthralling.

Just as her breath refused to calm, the Brit recognized the way in which her pulse raced. Tilting her head up slowly, Penny placed a light kiss her counterpart’s jaw, and again to the base of her neck. She couldn’t stop.

Again, everything she wanted to say began to enter the psychometrist’s mind. How she missed Lucy. Loved her. How in that moment she honestly believed she’d never want to deal with such distance again. Her lip pulled upward, focusing on how truly happy she was to be back in Pilot Ridge – in Lucy Serrano’s hold.

However, where her counterpart normally struggled, Penny found herself faltering. There was so much she wanted to say, it raced through her mind without a place to start. Her hand drew up the Australian’s form, fingers tracing lightly along it. “How was your trip?” Penny squeezed her eyes tightly, nose crinkling. It wasn’t what she wanted to lead with, yet somehow it was the thing to pass her lips. And even more, thanks to technology and the ability to talk to Lucy every day, she already knew the answer.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy was thankful for Penny's inability to draw away. Every touch felt so desperately new, tracking over the remnants of faded physicality; reigniting each and every impulse time and distance threatened to force the ink manipulator to forget. She couldn't catch her breath. And as her psychometric counterpart brushed her lips across her collarbone and dusted her skin with a heated exhale, she didn't bother trying to.

As her hands lingered on the exposed skin she'd held so tightly, she felt the residual heat resonate into her aching palms. She had missed her. So much so that to have her in her possession and in her hold was far too much to maintain. She knew she couldn't handle Penelope Blaise at the very best of times, and now it was like... This.

Where Penny lingered, Lucy followed. The small curve of her neck exposed as her lips left her jaw and found it instead. She felt the smile the Brit left against her form as deftly as she focused on each new kiss. She was happy.

The question posed was enough to snap anyone from the proverbial daze, as if the world settled and all that remained was idle small talk. She kept her eyes closed for a moment longer before gracing the girl she loved with a sidelong glance.

"How are you?" She asked instead, as delicately as she liked.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

In the small moment of silence, Penny opened her eyes. Slowly, she began to draw back, but only leaving a fraction of space between them; enough where she could press her lips to the ink manipulator’s shoulder. She kissed her once, and then again. The third time she held her lips there a few extra beats.

When she looked up, she caught her dark eyes. Alone, it pushed the little air she had left out of her lungs, her lip threatening to pull upward. “I’m well.” Great. Happy.

She was thankful that her own question was brushed aside, and as her hand traced across the lettering on her counterpart’s rips, she eventually let it settle on her stomach. “And yourself?” If felt strange to throw the same question back to Lucy, but she genuinely cared about what the ink manipulator had to say. How she felt. Small talk or not, Penny found herself wanting to listen.

Penny shifted to her side, keeping her arm wrapped around Lucy’s form, limbs tangled with hers as she rested her cheek to where she kissed only moments before.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Any level of attention she was willing to give, Lucy was all to happy to receive. It'd been far too long since she'd felt the way Penny's lips brushed across her skin to any capacity, and she was looking to get it all back.

The corner of her mouth dragged into a small smile as she caught her counterpart's gaze and heard her answer. It was simple. A small answer to a small question. And a flawless answer at that. She was as caught up with those two words as she was with the hand against her lettered tattoo. But then, it was handed back to her as only Penny would.

As the psychometrist settled into her side, Lucy drew her fingertips along the length of her counterpart's spine lightly; just enough to make contact. To feel it; to contrast the lines she'd no doubt left along her skin as a result of her desperation.

"Good," She replied finally, staring up at the ceiling, "I have you."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny closed her eyes, focusing on the delicate way in which Lucy’s fingertips brushed up along her spine where she had only just held on so tightly. She had missed such contact with Lucy; three weeks had been far too long, especially when days before she had to leave for New York, the Brit had realized hours were too long.

She had never expected to desire someone’s company quite like she did Lucy Serrano’s.

In Lucy’s reply, Penny didn’t to the way in which Lucy hadn’t used the correct word; she had gotten caught up in the grammatically correct sentence that followed. Her fingers brushed past the lettering she had lingered on in search of the Australian’s hand. She let out a slow burning breath, having only realized she was holding it until she was in need of her next breath.

She followed Lucy’s gaze up to the ceiling, but not without sparing another glance to the Australian first. It was hard not to look at her. Within her counterpart’s words, Penny was able to find her own; “I missed you.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

It was almost jarring to feel so settled with the psychometrist and yet not be able to settle. It was as if the ink manipulator had to remind herself to take each breath; as if the involuntary action no longer hers to leave be.

And in the same notion, Lucy felt the heavy connotations of her counterpart's exhale across her skin, like an ailment equally shared. She found her hand, and she took it on instinct, offering a light squeeze with what little strength she still had.

She was sure she felt Penny's eyes on her at one point, but she didn't glance back. Not until Penny spoke the phrase she thought to offer first.

Her dark eyes tracked across her features, staring to catch the features she missed. "I'm glad you're here." She replied, "I know you didn't need to be back for a few weeks." Closing her eyes, the Australian smiled. She couldn't help the way she reacted to the fact she was almost certain of; Penny had come back early for her.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny had never brought up that she didn’t have to be back for weeks, but then again it was fairly obvious. University of Vermont didn’t start until late August. “I wanted to be back here.” She said as lightly as she could manage. “With you.”

Penny’s free hand idly traced along Lucy’s form, starting from her side and tracking downward. When she reached the Australian’s hip, she quickly brought her gaze back to her counterpart. Her fingers faltered in their movement for a few seconds as she suddenly recalled catching sight of something different. New.

In the moment, Penny hadn’t the capacity to speak, let alone start up a conversation. Now, however, she did have that opportunity. Her fingers continued back on their trail, and she watched Lucy’s expression, not having to glance back down to recall what she had seen.

“You failed to mention the rocket while I was away.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

With her suspicions confirmed, Lucy couldn't help the way her smile grew involuntarily. Even if she assumed correctly, hearing that she was right was a completely different thing entirely.

She closed her eyes as Penny's hand started to move, because even something so simple had forced her heartbeat into her ears. It's been so long - too long - since she'd been able to revel in such easy contact. Now that she had it, remembering it all was the highest priority. And so she dropped her jaw, intent to respond until she stopped.

Until the Brit started again, and the breath she didn't know she was holding gave way in an audible exhale.

So she'd noticed. Lucy's mouth cracked into a knowing grin; the kind she couldn't suppress even if she had the capacity to do so. "I didn't want to ruin it for you." She replied, honestly. She reached for the covers as she pressed her foot against the mattress and raised her knee up. Drawing the material away, she did her best to uncover her thigh to show the rocket in question. Still shifting across her skin in the most pivotal, slow way; lettering and all.

"It looks better in person." The ink manipulator reasoned, catching her counterpart's hand and encouraging her palm to press to its trajectory as she glanced towards her. "Still not totally settled. I can't really help it."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny was starting to realize how attuned she was to Lucy Serrano’s body. It hadn’t taken her long to take notice of the fresh ink. Had she not been preoccupied by the barer of it, she would have asked the moment she caught sight of the billowing smoke.

The Brit accepted Lucy’s answer, giving a small nod to prove it so. She genuinely believed that a photograph would hardly be able to capture such art correctly. “You didn’t even say anything, though.” Still, she had to say something.

She kept her gaze focused on the rocket as it slowly began to track closer. The shift was barely there, but Penny registered the slight difference in feeling as it moved beneath her palm. Her lip twitched upward, recalling the first time she had felt such a movement of ink.

“What does Player Three stand for?” She asked, dark eyes glancing over the number before it disappeared under her own hand. She then looked up to the ink manipulator, raising her eyebrows with genuine curiosity.