Supernova

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

5th March, 2015

Today was a big day. It was the day. It was Penelope Blaise's birthday.

Now, what Lucy had learned was that Penny wasn't the world's biggest fan of birthdays. More to the point, she didn't like her own. She didn't celebrate it. She loved the galaxy room from last year, but it seemed to be the exception to the rule. Nothing could be quite so grand - nothing could be that gesture - and Lucy knew this much already. This year, it wasn't about replication.

She didn't really say anything about it. Not in the morning. She just wished the psychometrist a happy birthday once and left it at that. She didn't come back until the sun was going down.

When she did turn up, she felt her heart beat growing steadily with each step. This year was personal, she figured, not because it was a particularly special year but because she had a better understanding of who her fiancée was. Too many great things in a row and she would well and truly become overwhelmed. Standing in front of Penny's dorm room door, Lucy ignored the key she owned.

Instead, she knocked.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope was never an individual that liked to draw attention to herself. Up until recently, few in Hammel knew she actually existed; it wasn't until she was openly with the ink manipulator did that change. Because everybody knew Lucy Serrano, and by proxy, Penny was brought into that light to some extent.

For the most part, she managed to avoid it, remaining in the proverbial shadows. She preferred it that way. Being the center of attention was just asking for anxiety.

Which was why Penny failed to mention her own birthday this time last year. Although hypocritical, for she celebrated Lucy's birthday, the Brit had no intention of doing the same for her own. It was why she barely acknowledged the way Lucy mentioned it that morning, and why she was thankful that seemed to be the end of it.

So she went about her normal routine, and she went about hers. As far as Penny was concerned, it was nothing out of the ordinary. It was just another day, as she wished it to be.

But when a knock came to her door, the Brit immediately raised her eyebrows, looking up from the knitting needles her dark eyes had been focused on. Confusion clearly flashed in her features as she stood, assuming it was her brother at the door. Although the particular knock felt familiar, she dismissed the idea of Lucy ever trying to after being given a key. With precise steps to the door and a flick of her wrist, she unlocked it and twisted it open.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

By this time last year, Lucy wasn't nervous to come back here again. The necessary steps from her dorm to this one were no longer daunting or properly thought out. She no longer had to consider that she visited too often, and that she might become less interesting as time naturally progressed. As encounters became more frequent. As she started to become comfortable enough to be just a little different.

But this time last year, she wasn't sleeping properly. The first of many nights in a week as she ran through her mind to try and find something worthy to give for her birthday.

When Penny opened the door, Lucy looked straight ahead in order to catch her eye. There was something aged about the exchange; how she waited behind a door, saw her and couldn't help the irrefutable smile her face took on.

"Afternoon," Lucy greeted finally, "How's your day been?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Finding Lucy on the other side of the door was both a relief and a shot of confusion in one go. Her eyebrows immediately rose, despite the tug at the corner of her mouth as she exhaled from the sight of the ink manipulator. Dark eyes flashed down, if only for a second, before catching her gaze. She was exactly the person she wanted to see, even if Lucy's intentions were yet to be clear.

Stepping aside, she motioned for the ink manipulator to come in. It felt like the proper move to make after Lucy chose to knock, although the movement of her hand was awkward at the same time; she already knew she was welcome in.

"Fine." Penny replied slowly, dragging out the last two letter just a beat too long as she felt her curiosity grow. At this point of the day, she assumed anything to do with her birthday was successfully forgotten. "I missed you." She admitted after a spare second, her fingertips already working to reach out to her counterpart.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

With the small invitation, Lucy took steps into the room. Reaching back, she closed the door behind her. It wasn't until she made any kind of steps forward that it became clear she had an arm behind her back. One that only stayed there until the door was closed. Until Penny finished talking and made her first move to make a connection.

Reeling it forward, she produced a small gift. Bigger than her hand, though not awkwardly shaped. Rectangular. She tossed it in the air and caught it, like the contents barely mattered.

"No calls from parents?" She asked, curious. She hadn't been around last year - not enough to pay attention to the specifics, anyway - so she had no information to rightly compare the day to. "Nothing from your brother?" As they both knew, he crashed the proverbial party last year; he was the reason the ink manipulator knew anything in the first place. Surely he'd been around. Or would be around. "Figured he might try to steal you away for a few."

And that was fine. Really, it was.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

As Lucy stepped forward, it wasn't hard to tell that she was hiding something, and as the Australian procured a box, there was a moment where Penny was thankful for it. Not because she was holding a gift at all, but because she wasn't hiding the angered ink of a lion. Still, her dark eyes flashed to the box; barely a glance before she met Lucy's gaze again.

Her other hand quickly connected with Lucy's waist, leaning forward just enough to wrap her arms loosely around either side. Again, she couldn't help but to spare a shot at the contents in Lucy's hand, eyebrows twitching together briefly before she looked back.

Because she had been so close to getting through this day. And now they were referring to it without directly saying it.

"My brother called, yes." Penny explained with a nod. Lucy was right, he did want to take her out for a birthday dinner. "He was hoping to, but I agreed that tomorrow would be better." Really, as much as Michael could be selfish, he was ecstatic to hear that Penny wanted to spend the day with her fiancée. "My parents usually call in the evening."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

High in the air with her catch, Lucy's hand cradled the present she'd brought with her as both hands had pressed to her waist. She could feel the proverbial draw as she worked her way around the ink manipulator's waist. Not enough to completely rid the distance between them, but it was beckoning all the same.

The threat of a frown caught the corner of Lucy's mouth when she learned she was right. Really, it was fine if she left for a while in order to be with family. As far as Lucy understood, birthdays were days to be around people like that. But it didn't mean she wasn't going to be remotely jealous of the loss; she'd been gone all day for classes as it was. The reality of a lack of loss was handed to her with a little stint of negativity, because while she was going to be here all night, she wouldn't be tomorrow. It didn't seem right to point out how irritating that was. This happened from time to time, anyway.

"So I'll be here when they call." Lucy denoted, opting to find the light of the latter end of her explanation instead. "Cool." She nodded her head once, dragging the gift she held between them to press her hands to either side, instead. A physical buffer between them, as it were. "Better keep my distance, then."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny might have caught the frown that tugged at the corner of Lucy's mouth if her gaze wasn't preoccupied by the gift that was between them. Because her hands were focused on it rather than reaching out to the psychometrist, and there was something mildly irritating about that.

Moreso when Lucy worked to hold it between them, and although it didn't force distance between them, it was a barrier preventing the Brit from getting closer. Her lips pressed together into a firm line as she sucked in a breath, fingers tightening into the fabric of Lucy's shirt. Although her parents didn't regularly call in the evening to just chat, Penny had picked up on the fact that they usually waited until then on her birthday. Less of an excuse to ignore her phone - that was, until she started seeing the ink manipulator. A constant distraction, although never offered as an excuse to her parents.

Everyone knew it without having to say it.

"No," Penny corrected quickly, eyebrows rising with mild alarm. "It just means you're advised to behave for the duration of the call." Distance was never needed, even if it made things significantly more difficult between them. Proximity was always the first step in the inevitable.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy was a calculating individual. Logical practice was almost always her forte, so she was smart to hold the present she'd brought between them. It was actively in view at all times, keeping her own hands busy and something physical between them. They were talking about her birthday without directly naming it, and that was fine. But eventually it'd have to come up, and she herself was completely ready for it.

For now, they were talking about phone calls. And Penny was looking a little distressed by the idea of the call at all. It forced a quick grin to Lucy's mouth; one she couldn't shake even if she wanted to.

"I promise nothing." Lucy declared, shaking her head once. "I mean, come on. Bloody well look at you." She leaned in on instinct, closer towards the lips she'd yet to kiss. A spare glance towards them reminded her of that fact, until she finally dragged her gaze up and posed a genuine sounding question, "How the hell do I behave?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Never having anticipated getting a gift in the first place, having one suddenly become a physical item between herself and her counterpart was something of an irritating fact. More than anything, she just wanted to feel her form against her own, and the Australian's decision to prevent that only caused Penny's hands to increase pressure, nails dragging into the fabric of her shirt.

A hold which only tightened as Lucy spoke. There was no denying the sudden heat that rose in her features, but Penny tried all the same as she sucked in a quick breath.

She glanced down, and the Brit knew exactly where Lucy's gaze fell. Still, the ink manipulator made no move to close the remaining distance between them, and for that Penny sunk her teeth into her lower lip, partially out of frustration. "You seem to be trying to now, and I don't understand why." Penny pointed out dryly.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Hands were applying definite pressure to Lucy's form; nails causing a slight falter to her breathing. Despite the buffer that was her own clothes, it was still an undeniably intoxicating movement. Teeth were sinking into Penny's lower lip, and they weren't the ones that should be. A distant look caught the Australian's eyes as she pondered the fact. But she was speaking, and so she had to look at her eyes again.

"Because," Lucy started, as easily as she possible could. But her grin had broadened to something of a smirk as her mind moved before her mouth could, "It's hard to stop."

Truth be told, she'd missed the phrase she'd coined so long ago. And every time she said it, she still remembered kneeling over a pile of dropped books as her current counterpart weakly told her she could leave. As if it had ever been an easy feat in the first place. As if it ever would be. Lucy offered a slight tilt of her head, thoughtful as the expression her face took momentarily despite the smile she wore.

"So you need to open this first." She continued on, nodding her head once. Because if she wasn't going to stop, the gesture was going to get lost in transit. And she couldn't have that today.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

For once, Penny was highly aware of the pressure she placed against Lucy's skin; fabric or not, she knew it was just a little too tight. To insure that it was impossible to ignore. This time, it was the Brit's turn to glance to Lucy's lips as they took on that particular curve. Her eyebrows rose at the statement, easily recalling the first time it was offered what it meant then and how it reflected now.

It was hard to stop - such a defining statement to their relationship. Rarely did they ever stop, and even in those times, it was more of a pause in the inevitable than anything else.

But her attention quickly shifted back to the gift in question, eyebrows twitching upward. Another flick up to Lucy's gaze, and her hold finally loosened. "Alright." She replied as lightly as she could manage. There was always something daunting about being given a gift, part of which was why she avoided celebrating her birthday in the first place. Slowly, however, she reached for the box.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The smallest of indicators that Penny would comply came in the form of a single word. And to it, Lucy nodded her head twice. At least they agreed, and the effort she'd put in wouldn't be wasted.

As the gift left her hands, Lucy exhaled an audible sigh. It was designed to strip her face of any nervous connotations, but she knew it'd failed. She knew there were the smallest indicators; the look in her eyes, or the way she pressed her lips together to stop herself from smiling. Her heart refused to keep a steady pace in passing seconds, elevating with the loss of weight. Not that it weighed much.

She was trying so hard not to speak. To preface a moment with a detailed explanation of the differences between the grandest of gestures and this one. She even opened her mouth to do it anyway, but stopped herself, standing there with a jaw dropped for a second or so before closing it.

It was a book. Worn to the edges and corners, the pages were everything she'd detailed in the only instance they'd ever talked about it. It was the copy.

Here, There Be Dragons.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

As she took the present into her hands, the evident pressure of a memory stung at her fingertips and through her palm, but a quick breath forced her to quell it. Psychometry would hardly ruin this moment.

With a precise moment, a finger tucked under the wrapping. Rather than tearing at it, the Brit eased away at the tape gently. Although she had no plans to reuse the paper in question, simply tearing at it was not an option for Penelope Blaise.

What first caught her attention was the feeling of pages at the tip of her finger as she dragged away the paper. A book; which felt surprising within itself, as Penny knew well Lucy's opinion on reading in general, but the moment her gaze fixed on the revealed cover, she lost every ounce of air from her lungs.

She didn't need to open it to know exactly what copy this was, but she did regardless. With a slow movement, she brushed her thumb against the binding before flipping open to a page. And there it was, definite proof within the shift of ink on the page. If that wasn't enough, the prominent tingle in her palm was - years ago, and the most prominent memory still wished to enter her mentality.

Her lips parted, intent on trying to say something, but she quickly faltered, falling on silence as she continued to stare at the book in her hands.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy kept her eyes on Penny's face for any sign of a shift in her expression. Anything at all as she heard the careful removal of the packaging she'd placed enough precision in to last a lifetime. These things were important. Trying to keep her mind off her own anxiety as she worked it was important, but she knew she'd likely failed on that front.

At least it wasn't ruined. Dark eyes dropped their gaze to her mouth when it seemed like she might speak. But nothing happened, and immediately she felt an unfamiliar pang to the base of her heart. Shallow and empty; not quite failure. Something different, which resonated with an unclear feeling. She raised her eyebrows, her forehead creasing, and she forced herself to speak. Something. Anything.

"It's not a galaxy."

She paused to take a breath, quick to take in more air, and perfectly ready to continue her explanation by way of the usual worded assault.

"Well, okay. There's a little one in there. But-" She extended her hand out as if to express the tail end of her sentence.