Bring Me Sunlight

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Regardless of if Lucy was aware of it or not, she followed a schedule. She’d either come to the psychometrist’s dorm, or if she didn’t, Penny would make the move to go to hers. It was what determined the rest of the night – and over the past eight days, Penny was acutely aware of her counterpart’s decision.

Every night, Lucy had made her way to Penny’s dormitory. One that they had slowly been easing away from because of the Brit’s psychotic religious roommate, but now it was the exact opposite. Penny hadn’t the chance to step foot in the ink manipulator’s room for over a week.

So Penny made the move to change that.

The psychometrist made the familiar trek down to the co-ed dormitories, precise steps bringing her to room 202. She hadn’t knocked on the common room door, and still nobody bothered to lock it. With a twist of the handle, Penelope hadn’t bothered with lingering anywhere long enough to take in her surroundings, immediately walking up to the familiar door.

Reaching forward, she briefly thought just open it, but habit forced her knuckles onto the hardened surface with four define knocks before waiting a beat and stepping inside.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Eight days of a working pattern, and Lucy was feeling pretty good about it. She was easing into a new transition. Yes, it was smarter to distance herself from Penny's dorm; the psychotic roommate in question was a choice individual for Lucy to torment the ever loving hell out of, but it always made her unstable afterwards. But in these latest days, it wasn't a priority. She could handle it, she was sure.

What she couldn't really handle was the agreement to show everything; every morsel of artwork she had in her possession. She wasn't entirely sure how to handle Penny walking into her dorm now that she knew fragments of her face hung on the ink manipulator's wall. Her eyes, first. And now the perfected curve of her nose in tandem with the unique shape of her mouth. Different pages, tacked over each other. But the pieces still remained, and she finally knew it.

Lucy was in her room, controller in hand as she leaned back in the chair with her feet on her desk and played through a level of what was arguably her favourite game, Tomb Raider. She was so sure she'd manage to dictate LC through a level well enough to sneak up and choke a guy out before he could find her.

But someone knocked. It was that familiar knock. Her thumb slipped on the joystick and she stepped out. Lost her stance.

"Fuck!" She swore harshly, loudly as she kicked herself back a touch, forcing her English avatar to opt for a weapon of more substance to get her out of the evident mess some other English broad had thrown her into. It was loud. Loud enough for the shotgun blasts to match the volume she'd sworn at.

This wasn't good, but at least the set of guys in the game were dead.

Pausing the playthrough, she settled the controller beside the opened energy drink on the surface of the desk. She hauled the chair back, dragging herself to her feet as she dragged the hood of the sweatshirt she wore over her head. A hand filtered into her pocket, the other running along her hair to ensure its placement. Pants. Did she need pants?

Was she kidding?

She dragged an easy set of shorts on, prolonging the time she let her counterpart wait before she actually made it to the door.

Lucy opened it, leaving it slightly ajar as she leaned her forearm against the frame. Pausing before she spoke, the Australian took in the expression given to her.

"Hiii." She drawled, curiosity lining the simple word.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope waited outside the door with little patience. Even as she kept her usual unamused expression, the psychometrist was itching to get inside Lucy’s dormitory. To see her just as much as the papers that covered her walls.

Startled, Penny’s head jerked back in response to the sudden outburst behind Lucy’s door. She recognized the accent as her counterpart’s, and honestly it would have been just as easy to tell from the particular word that had been shouted. She almost thought to step back, eyebrows twitching together as her lips pressed into the hardened line she wore so well.

And at the sound of a gunshot blast, she did take half a step backwards. Her nose crinkled, the corner of her mouth pulling downwards as she continued to wait. Her fingers curled at the material of her skirt before flattening a palm to it, resisting the urge to just enter without a response.

However, she picked up some sound of movement. At least she wasn’t dead.

When the door opened, Penny instinctively took a step forward to go inside. As she almost always had. But with the Australian lingering against the door frame, she couldn’t move much more forward without running into Lucy. Her dark eyes glanced down, unable to help herself from looking, and once she had, her gaze lingered longer than she expected.

Snapping her head up, Penny raised her eyebrows. “Hello.” She replied, unable to ignore the curious nature of her counterpart’s tone, but refused to let it bother her. “Are you busy?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

With little space to move, Lucy held her ground. As much as she wanted to reach for her counterpart on instinct, she didn't. Not yet, anyway. She felt the pressure of her gaze as it filtered down, registering the involuntary way her back straightened as she took a breath.

That was unfair.

"No." Lucy replied quickly, shot straight off the mark with her own purpose.

But something about the rushed nature of her own shot felt strained, so she folded her arms and leaned with her hip against the doorframe instead, allowing the door to open enough to make room for herself completely. "Aren't you early?" She asked, eyebrows raising at the fact. Because yes, she was early. That early quality was threatening to mess with the Australian's perfectly articulated plan of avoiding having her psychometric counterpart in her room.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy’s shift in posture hadn’t gone unnoticed, and Penny couldn’t help the way it encouraged her own behavior. It was something she was beginning to get used to without worry. Looking. Staring.

So Lucy wasn’t busy. Penny felt relief wash over herself for the fact, but still, Lucy wasn’t moving. They were stuck, suspended within the hallway only feet from the ink manipulator’s room. Even so, Penny reached forward, fingers curling around the each draw string of her sweatshirt to give them a small tug in the attempt to straighten them out.

When called out, Penny glanced towards the ceiling, as if only just registering she was early. Although she knew all too well that the Brit had something of an obsession with knowing the time. Her gaze fell back on Lucy within an instant. “I missed you.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Truth be told, Lucy knew she'd be moving eventually. As strong as she might have seemed, there was still little she could do against her psychometric counterpart when she wanted something. Even Lucy was aware of her own shortcomings; the extent of it, however, was a completely different matter.

She glanced down when she saw her hands moving, exhaling a slow breath when they barely made contact. She wasn't even sure that counted as contact. As she dragged on either string, it forced the hood over the ink manipulator's head to shrink slightly. So she reached for it, pulling on it herself to let it sit comfortably on top of her head.

Which only left the question; where did she put her hands? Where should she let them fall?

At the idea that Penny missed her when she'd only seen her at the beginning of the day, Lucy couldn't really help herself. Hands filtered to rest at her sides, drawing her closer with addictive pressure. With the breach in distance, she couldn't help but kiss her counterpart lightly. For such an admission, she had to give her something.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

It wasn’t that Penny knew exactly how to make Lucy respond in certain ways, but she certainly had picked up on the Australian’s habits. How she often moved in correspondence to the psychometrist. A sliver of contact – if it was to be considered real contact at all – and she felt familiar hands to her sides. She moved with the light pressure, stepping forward to expel any distance between the two of them.

Even so, it was overwhelming. The light kiss offered was anything but insignificant. Just as she could predict the way in which Lucy would reach out to her, it seemed inevitable that a small smile would pull at Penny’s lips when she felt hers against them.

Letting go of the drawstrings, Penny shifted her hands to rest on Lucy’s shoulders, applying her own pressure to move her forward as she kissed her again.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Feeling the psychometrist against herself again was overwhelming. For someone who lived so far from the people she loved and coped with it like the best of them, Lucy couldn't help how intently she missed Penny throughout the day. It was always a shock to the system to feel that harsh relief wash over her.

So she was unaware of the step she moved with; the way she brought her counterpart into the room she was trying to subtly keep her from. Too caught up was she in her mere presence to even really care. She couldn't stop the way her smile grew at the overdose of perfect contact.

Breaking away from the kiss, Lucy brushed the tip of her nose against hers, the curve of her lips growing further still.

"I'm playing Tomb Raider." Lucy explained, as if the explanation would actually mean anything for her.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Even with Penny’s intention for visiting, it was impossible not to get derailed by the way Lucy responded to her. And truly, she had missed the ink manipulator. Only a handful of hours had passed since she last saw Lucy, but she couldn’t help the desire to be close with her again. Every morning they separated, and every time she considered chasing after her counterpart immediately after.

So she moved with a different intention, a hand shifting away from the curve of her form to push the door closed. The moment Penny registered the click of it, she moved back. Her hand worked into the dark hood, fingers curling with the mess of hair behind Lucy’s neck.

Without realizing her own action, Penny’s nose crinkled as she felt the brush of hers. Still, Lucy’s smile was undeniable, and it brought forth Penny’s own. Never as wide as the one she loved, but it still remained.

“I thought that was a movie.” She stated in response, not putting much thought into what either the movie or game were like.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy resisted the urge to laugh at the quick tension in her nose; how she crinkled it the moment she made contact. If anything, it was fuel to drag her smile to be wider. Though Penny's would never match her own, it was endearing to see the way she smiled.

But what was more endearing was what she said next. There, the Australian couldn't help the way she laughed. She reeled her head back, mindful of the hand to the back of her neck and the balancing act that was keeping a hood settled atop her dark hair.

"It's like... Two movies." Lucy replied instinctively, "And ten games."

And while she tried her best to dull that sliver of excitement in her voice, it was impossible to strip it away completely. "I was just killing time, anyway." Lucy added, slowly easing herself out of her counterpart's grasp as she took short steps towards her desk again.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny’s eyebrows instantly furrowed together as Lucy laughed. She was unaware as to what was so funny about her question, but her smile refused to falter as hers grew. There was something incredibly intoxicating about her counterpart’s strange brand of humor.

“Ah.” She replied, tilting her chin upwards slightly as she considered the information. Ten games sounded like a ridiculous amount, but she didn’t question it. When it came to the subject, Penelope had no idea what a reasonable amount of titles were for the series. Nor had she seen either of the movies.

But what further caught the Brit’s attention was her counterpart’s enthusiasm within her tone, and how it reflected within her dark eyes in the smallest of ways. Letting Lucy slip from her hold, Penny followed silently, glancing to the walls quickly before she halted in front of Lucy’s desk. “It sounded like you were killing more than just time.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The simple sound Penny gave was hardly enough to articulate the importance of what Lucy provided, but she let it slide nonetheless.

It was always a little jarring to create distance, but the ink manipulator did so nonetheless. Her fingers drummed along the edge of the desk, passed the controller and its energy drink accomplice towards the seat. She lingered for a brief moment before settling back where she was, her attention turning towards her counterpart again.

"Well, yeah. LC's just a young archaeologist in the reboot, but she knows how to handle a lot of weapons." She replied with a shrug of her shoulders as she swung her feet back up to the edge of the desk.

Just as quickly as she'd broken contact, she was searching for it again. Her hand reached out slowly, an empty hand outstretched between them to bring her closer. "But I mean, it's early back home, but my mum's gonna be up soon. I was hanging around to see if she wanted to talk, or something." Pausing briefly, Lucy lowered her eyebrows.

"That's right, right? The time difference?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

As much as Penny hated the distance put between them, hearing Lucy speak of anything with such informed enthusiasm was captivating. She spoke as easily as Penny would about her favorite book, but she couldn’t help the intake of breath she took at the statement. So the gunshots weren’t mistaken. Why didn’t it surprise her that Lucy played a violent game?

“I’m supposing she’s the protagonist, then?” She questioned, although the Brit couldn’t easily relate to playing a game, she couldn’t help but to encourage the Australian.

Without missing a beat, Penny stepped through the distance, taking hold of Lucy’s hands, intertwining their fingers. Because any time it was asked of her, she couldn’t help but to comply. Who was she to deny Lucy?

“Yes, it’s early morning there.” Penny replied, trying to hide the amusement from her tone. Somehow she managed to memorize the different time zones before her counterpart had. But paused another beat. “I can leave if you want to talk to her.”

It wasn't part of the plan, but when it came to parents, it was different.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy offered something of of a dead-panned expression, dumbfounded by the question Penny asked her. There was no way she was serious. Was she?

"Uh," Lucy started, testing the waters with the drawn sound, "Duh. It's Lara fucking Croft."

Regardless of her counterpart's unfortunate lack of knowledge, Lucy wanted her hand anyway. As she intertwined their fingers loosely, the ink manipulator made a point of running her thumb across her hand lightly. How could she consider doing anything less with Penny in her room? She herself needed something.

Lucy wore a smug grin when Penny confirmed her timezone assumption. She couldn't help it. It was a win.

"Nah, it's okay." The Australian replied, leaning forward and curling her free hand around the energy drink at her desk, "Stay, yeah? Your here now, you might as well." She smiled at the fact, the thought of her prior words ringing in her head, "Cause you missed me."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny’s eyebrows lowered at her counterpart’s expression, lips pressing together as her smile faltered over both the curse thrown in and the tone her counterpart took. Who on earth was supposed to know that about some game?

Her gaze shifted to the energy drink Lucy took hold of, putting more pressure on the line of her lips. “I did miss you.” She agreed easily – the fact wasn’t hard to deny in any way. She wouldn’t argue if Lucy told her to stay, because frankly, she wanted to stay. If Lucy managed to get her out of the dorm she only just got back into, who knew how long it’d be before she managed again.

“You know those are bad for you.” She pointed out flatly, giving a tilt of her head to the can in the Australian’s hand. She couldn’t help herself from blurting out the fact as her free hand moved to rest on Lucy’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t drink them.”