Oh Say Please Do Not Go

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy could honestly say she spent little time in the library. Reading had never been a huge favourite of hers; there were so many better, more entertaining things to spend her time on. It wasn't impossible, but reading for fun was a huge rarity. And besides, that wasn't what she was there for.

Because she'd gone looking for Penny, and Penny wasn't in her dorm.

She also wasn't in Lucy's dorm, or anywhere near the ink manipulator, and so logically there was only one other place to look. It took a little while, and she half thought about giving up once she'd taken a few steps and failed to find her. But the Australian was a determined one, and so she pressed passed the various stacks until she found herself in the non-fiction section.

And there, in her own little corner, Lucy found her - sitting at a table on her own, despite the vacant seat parallel from her. Her mouth dragged into a grin, and she took quiet steps towards her, noting how engrossed she seemed in the book she held. The moment she reached her, she pressed her hands to the table and leaned inward, her gaze flicking down to the thing she was reading.

"I need that book."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope Blaise rarely left her own dorm, and when she did, the Brit often opted for a different dorm. On the rare occurrence that she wasn’t at either, the Brit could usually be found in the library. Penny rarely strayed far from the places she was most comfortable.

There had been a stranger in her dorm; a new roommate. One that the psychometrist was not keen on getting to know in that moment. And although making her way down to the co-ed dorms seemed like a valid option, she was in a reading mood. Somehow, reading and Lucy Serrano never went hand and hand. The Brit doubted she would get any done if she were to visit the ink manipulator. She was distracting.

And that was fine. Perfect, even. But Penny had been reading a book, and she had yet to finish it since she had picked it up a week ago. For the Brit, taking so long with literature felt jarring. She needed to finish it.

So she hid in the library. Rather, she didn’t hide, but found herself in her usual space. Non-fiction section. In a corner. A small table which the Brit had determined was hers, despite being unable to physically own a public space.

She sat there, back straight, legs crossed and elbows off the table as she read in silence. Unlike most her age, the Brit hadn’t used headphones, preferring silence to such distracting background noise. Because of which, however, she quickly picked up on the sound of footsteps approaching her. However, she refused to look up. A typical Blaise tactic; ignore and maybe it’ll go away.

At the familiar accent, her attention was drawn away from the text. She continued to stare at it, however, while she pressed her lips into a hardened line. Of course Lucy would come and find her. By no means was Penny avoiding her, but it was just like her to seek her out and become the distraction she was trying to keep from for a few hours.

Still, her presence was more than welcome.

“Oh really?” Penny glanced up, raising her eyebrows at the Australian. She knew who had stepped up to the table before she looked. The accent would forever give Lucy Serrano away. Her lip pulled upward, recalling the way she had said those very words to the ink manipulator, despite how long ago that had been.

She, however, refused to repeat what she had replied with that day.

“Well, next time you better come and get it before someone else does.” Still, she could revise what the Australian had said over a year ago.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

A slight frown dragged onto Lucy's mouth, because in those first few moments, Penny gave her nothing. Not a look. Not even the chance to catch the difference in her expression. But the moment she realised Penny was shifting to glance at her, her grin returned.

She did so love being underneath those eyes.

Lucy leaned against the table, pressing her forearms to the surface as she raised her eyebrows once. Yeah, really.

And she couldn't help the stint of hard laughter she gave when Penny continued on. Really, she should have been grateful such an encounter was worth remembering. "But then when would I get to argue with you?" Lucy asked, shrugging her shoulders lightly. Reaching forward, Lucy pressed her index finger to the middle of the book, tilting it downwards as if to genuinely glance at what was on the pages. But her eyes were still on her.

"Who would have given you the solid advice you clearly ended up taking?" Because there was no way Lucy could forget the look on her face when she'd suggested she literally get fucked.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

In that moment, Penny wondered why she bothered trying to finish her book. It took a strong force to make the Brit put down a novel, and Lucy Serrano was easily had the potency to do so. Immediately, her thoughts on the dust bowl and Oklahoma slipped from the Brit’s mind when she caught sight of that grin.

And her laugh had Penny completely engrossed in the Australian. Her gaze dropped to Lucy’s grin, and furthermore down the line of her neck, watching how her shoulders shifted as she shrugged. Any attempt to stop staring would have been fruitless, and Penny made no attempt to do so, either.

“I’m sure you’d find an excuse to do so regardless.” The psychometrist replied lightly, looking back and catching her dark eyes. She eased the tension in her wrists, allowing the text to be shown as Lucy applied pressure to her book.

Her smile faltered on an exhale as Lucy continued, and she immediately felt embarrassment color her cheeks. It wasn’t hard to figure out what Lucy was referring to; her counterpart’s words were impossible to forget. It was certainly a memorable first meeting. “I don’t think that was what you had in mind when you said it.” Or, at least be the party involved.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The not-so-subtle stare of her counterpart wasn't lost on Lucy. It so rarely was, but she opted to revert to her usual tactics and not call her out on such a thing. Let her stare. Let her mind wander until the book was the absolute furthest thing from her mind.

"You're probably right. It's my absolute favourite past time." Lucy replied, but the corner of her mouth pulled slightly and she nodded her head to the side.

Second favourite.

Despite the fact that the contents of the book were now available to her, the ink manipulator still didn't let her gaze wander. Not when she was wearing such a colour to her cheeks. The sight of it forced her own shoulders to rise on a slow breath, before she drew them back and stretched the muscles around her shoulder blades idly.

"Isn't that what makes it so great?" Lucy asked her. "I like the irony."

Shifting her fingers quickly, she clasped her hand around the book, working to ease it from her grasp. Because why would she worry about reading when Lucy Serrano was in front of her?

"Did you like it when you realised you got number four wrong?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

To hear that arguing was Lucy’s favorite past time wasn’t surprising, however the thought that Lucy spent much more of her free time doing something else had entered the Brit’s mind. They argued, yes, but there was another aspect of their relationship that was much more prominent.

Penny liked it that way.

This time, as Lucy’s shoulders rose, Penny’s gaze didn’t slip away from her counterpart’s dark eyes.

The Brit was unsure if she should be annoyed with Lucy’s point, or impressed that she was part of the small population that knew how to use the term irony correctly. Or both.

Her hold on the book loosened, and Lucy had been able to take it from her with ease. She could easily say that it was not a top priority in the moment. Her hands, now free, chose to reach for Lucy’s instead, her fingertips barely brushing across the ink manipulator’s knuckles. Because when there was an opportunity to reach out to Lucy Serrano, Penny would always take it.

“I did not get number four wrong.” Penny quickly shot back, straightening in her seat. A bold face lie, and one that Penny would stick to regardless.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

As Lucy expected, she managed to slowly procure the book from her hands. Now in her possession, she let her hands linger as she felt familiar fingertips brush her knuckles. There was little that could get her to draw away when Penny was offering any kind of contact.

But in the next moment she closed the book with a hand, pressing it to the table with her palm to the cover.

"Didn't you, though?" Lucy asked, tilting her head to the side. She couldn't have kept the smug connotations out of her smirk if she wanted to.

So she leaned in, across the table as she raised her free hand towards her British counterpart. There, she brushed her fingertips across the line of her jaw. "Hey, I won't tell anyone." She reasoned, her gaze following the line of her fingers before catching on her lips.

"I wouldn't dream of it." She continued on, flicking her dark eyes back to hers again.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny felt the air held in her lungs pass her lips as Lucy’s fingertips ran the line of her jaw. The ache of tension built in her neck as she resisted the urge to lean into the touch. Into her. As her counterpart’s gaze shifted, Penny closed her eyes for a moment, caught up in the light touch.

And as she opened her eyes, Penny again caught hers. The Brit’s nails ran over the back of Lucy’s hand before fingers curled around her wrist, giving it a light squeeze. Because this was unfair. She was being unfair.

But there was no way she’d ask Lucy to stop, and she wanted to make that much clear through the small physical act.

Penny purposely chose not to respond to the statement, because she was beginning to doubt if they were still speaking of the homework she turned over a year ago. She took in a slow breath, and felt it waver against her own lips slightly. She already had such an effect over the Brit, and she had barely done anything. “Can I help you with something?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Publicly or not, Lucy reasoned it no longer really mattered. If she wanted to make contact with someone who was so clearly hers, she was going to. At the very least, that was her side of things. And unless she was told to stop, she doubted she would. It was always hard to stop.

Given the feeling of her nails against her hand, Lucy highly doubted she wanted her to anyway.

When the question caught her ears, Lucy raised her eyebrows once. It wasn't the most inviting statement in the world, and it wasn't the easiest thing to read, but her mentality was far too clouded to consider deeper implications and undertones in that particular moment.

So she leaned in a little more, thankful for the smaller size of the table as she moved to press her lips against the psychometrist's cheek. There, she lingered for a moment or two before drawing her mouth to her ear.

"Did you want me to leave you alone?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

She was acutely aware of the way Lucy leaned inward; proximity always captured her attention more than anything. It was impossible to ignore. And even more so, was the way Lucy’s lips pressed to her cheek. Such displays of affection were never shown in public – as graduation had seemingly been the exception – and so, the kiss hadn’t been expected.

But it was well received.

Penny couldn’t help but to lean into it slightly, and every lingering second Lucy held it there was another second Penny’s breath held in her lungs. She closed her eyes, her hold tightening around the ink manipulator’s wrist as she felt Lucy’s breath against her ear.

There, she waited a few beats, completely caught up everything Lucy was offering. She never contemplated her answer, and so after a few moments, Penny shifted her head enough to just lightly brush her lips against the line of Lucy’s jaw. “No.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

As Lucy stayed stagnant with her lips against her cheek, she couldn't even entertain the idea that she'd pushed a little too far. Of course, she likely should have checked that any public notions of affection was something the psychometrist was comfortable with. But the moment she'd seen her, the very idea of being subtle flew from her mentality.

Besides, she felt the way she leaned in. The way she added more pressure to her wrist.

Furthermore, Lucy felt the way she moved slightly; a simple turn of her head that granted the ink manipulator the feeling of her lips against her skin. She took a small breath, swallowing any potentially idiotic statement she might have offered to Penny's answer.

The corner of her mouth dragged into a grin again as she exhaled. Tilting her head to meet her, Lucy breached that minimal distance and kissed her lightly.

But there was hardly anything light about how she felt for her in that moment.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny kept her lips to Lucy’s jaw, continually keeping them just close enough to brush against her skin. The public setting they found themselves in did little to deter the psychometrist. Such things mattered, but not in that moment. Not when she breathed in such an evident way.

Lucy Serrano was far too enthralling for such concepts to matter.

She moved with Lucy, allowing herself to meet the ink manipulator, but it was still her decision to kiss Penny, and no matter how lightly she had done so, it still caused the Brit’s pulse to shift erratically in response. The gentle connotations behind it hadn’t made it any less significant.

Nor did it change the intent Penny was sure she felt.

When she could, Penny let out a slow exhale, her own lip pulling upward against the Australian’s before she kissed her again with a similar lightness.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy was acutely aware that kissing her once was never enough. It never felt like enough. And it was impossible to ignore the desire to push forward and kiss her again. Having the first reciprocated in the way she had only spurred her to press forward.

She felt the way Penny breathed against her skin; how her lips twitched against her own before she beat Lucy to breaching the distance.

Light as it was, it was absolutely intoxicating to be kissed by the one she loved without a care. The silent agreement that formed made it difficult for the ink manipulator to stop smiling. And it was hard to pull away; to fight the urge to get so completely lost in both her as a person and everything she was offering. So she leaned into the contact, resting the palm of her hand against the side of her face. Anything to get a little more, because nothing ever felt like enough.

But Lucy dragged herself away eventually, just enough to be able to catch her eyes when she opened them. The Australian pressed her lips together before running her tongue between them on instinct. As much as she tried to stop smiling, she simply couldn't.

"I just missed you, but you keep going." She replied finally, brushing the tip of her nose against her counterpart's lightly. "I'll see you later, love."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

The silent understanding that Lucy and herself shared was completely enthralling to the Brit. Never had she entertained the idea of being so affectionate in such an open setting, but she didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was the Australian in front of her.

When she felt Lucy pull away, Penny opened her eyes to catch her dark eyes as she took in a much needed breath. She then dropped her gaze to Lucy’s mouth on instinct, unable to help it when she ran her tongue between them in such an enticing way. When she smiled like that.

Penny’s smile grew as Lucy admitted she missed her. At the way she brushed her nose against her own so affectionately. She felt so caught up in the Australian that it took her a few moments to realize exactly what she was saying. And when she had, Penny felt a quick stint of panic run through her back as her eyes widened.

Again, she squeezed the wrist she held, giving it a light pull in her direction. “Come here.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

It was impossible not to look at the way Penny smiled. A rarity in its own light, it was even rarer in a setting like this. Lucy couldn't recall the last time she'd seen a smile like that anywhere outside the comforting confinements of either of their bedrooms.

The way her eyes widened hadn't gone unnoticed either, but the Australian was a little determined not to disrupt her whole day. After all, there must have been some kind of intention behind the decision to be here instead of visiting dorm 2-0-2.

But she easily lost her strength when Penny tried pulling her closer. When she invited her to be closer.

Raising her hand from the book she'd taken, Lucy stalled for a moment before she stepped around the table to the other side. With no seat to claim as her own, she stood alongside her counterpart, raising a hand to run her fingers through her hair once. "You're not hiding in here just to get something done?" Lucy asked her, though she was almost certain of the answer.