Off the Track

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Leaving the comfort of a dormitory was never easy, especially for the psychometrist who found little comfort in a public setting. Even more so when it involved detangling herself from her counterpart enough to get up, dressed, and leave. Yet of course, Lucy was along for the tow. That was the point, after all.

An hour before the first appointment. The first showing in an attempt to find their first apartment. Graduation was around the corner for the ink manipulator, and with her own exams done, Penny had successfully finished her first year of university. It meant more time within Hammel - more time to distract her from the last few weeks of class.

Time to take that first step towards something so much greater.

Delicate hands wrapped around her tea cup, refusing to pull them away for any reason. Because Lucy sat across the table, only just out of reach. Stretching her arm, she could have found contact, yet that was incredibly dangerous. Any number of seconds without it was too much, and somehow she was to last an hour.

Her hold tightened around the cup.

"Is two shots of espresso really necessary?"

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Though not completely out of the woods as of yet, Lucy was pretty close. It meant she could pretty much bank on the fact that she was getting out of Hammel in a month or so. And that meant she didn't have to live in the dorms any more; though really, she could have stopped that over a year ago. The thought hadn't ever occurred to her. The thought still hadn't occurred to her. She never had a reason to move out until she practically lived with someone else.

Looking for somewhere to live was as exciting as it was daunting. Lucy wasn't worried about the application process in the slightest; it was finding a place that suited the both of them that seemed a little more taxing. She hardly wanted to spend days on lengthy searches for properties, but she wasn't the type to settle on something like this.

Still, anything was better than two tiny dorm rooms on separate floors.

It was always a calculated risk to put a table between herself and the psychometrist. It made things much worse than they initially were when complete contact was severed; without an ounce, she couldn't really make it for as long as she should have. Still, it wouldn't have been an outing with her if she hadn't tossed a little heat into the moment.

"Penny." She offered the name like it was a reason within itself. Or like surely, if anyone knew the answer to that, it would be Penny.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

As she sat with perfect posture, fingers drummed lightly against the teacup between her hands, fingertips buzzing with the fresh memory of the barista preparing her drink. The psychometrist's mind, however, was too caught up with the woman sitting across from her to notice, let along live the memory literally at hand.

Hardly an answer to the average person, the Brit was anything but. Hearing the name only she could rightly use, Penny felt the slow pass of air through her lips. Amusement in its lightest form as she instinctively leaned forward an inch without registering she had even done so at all.

It wasn't an answer, but it was. The corner of her lip twitched upward, holding the works of a smile for a fraction of a second before reverting back. With a quick raise and lower of her eyebrows, she almost went to speak - yet instead that smile flashed - again for only a moment - before she decided to stay quiet.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy watched the way Penny reacted to the single word she herself had offered. Amusement often coloured her in the most unique way; the silence of it carried such an energy about it within itself. Lucy couldn't fight the way it threatened a grin to her own mouth, and she was hardly one to ever feel the need to deter it.

Fingers to the handle of her cup, and she stalled as she saw what seemed like the need to talk. Lucy knew her counterpart was never one to hold her tongue if she didn't feel the need to. Without much thought - or perhaps it carried more than she realised - the metal around her finger collided with the cup she sought to hold, the slight clanging sound filtering through the forced distance between them.

"Wha'?" Lucy asked her, purposefully shaving off the final sound of the word, rounded to her accent as it was. Anything to remotely stir her up, or at least get her to talk.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Between them, silence stood as Penny's eyes caught the particular curve her counterpart's mouth had taken. Her grin was always so much wider than the Brit's, how it spread throughout her features, bringing new light to her dark eyes.

The small clang of metal to the ceramic surface of a coffee cup immediately caught her attention. Although not particularly loud, it still brought the psychometrist's gaze down to the ring Lucy sported. The one that suited not just her, but them so well.

The single word question dragged her gaze up, dark eyes closing and only opening to clash against hers. It was such an innocent question, but she supposed it was hardly that. Surely Lucy knew exactly what was on the Brit's mind. "What about at home?" She asked, eyebrows raising slowly.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy caught the new trajectory of her counterpart's gaze, though really, it still took getting used to even after the weeks and weeks that she'd been wearing that ring on her finger, second from the left. There was something obviously inviting about the way Penny looked; she was rarely one to take any sight in that wasn't related to the ink manipulator, but this was above the norm. She felt the way it sparked her own attention, but she had to look away. She had to catch her eyes again.

Though they were effectively out trying to put a stamp on their future plans, talking about its existence was a dangerous topic. She ignored the difficulty enforced by distance. At least, she tried to to the best of her ability.

"You're not gonna make it for me anymore?" Lucy asked, feigning innocence in such a moment. Confusion echoed through the way she lowered her eyebrows; "Don't think you can get outta that. Didn't complain about getting woken up this morning, but I might if it's just to make my own coffee."

But her grin grew anyway despite the potential seriousness; she was hardly about to complain over the way in which she was drawn from slumber on this particular morning.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Looking at Lucy was always easier said than done. The actual act itself was never hard. It occurred naturally as any spare change to take a glance at the Australian was often taken, only avoiding it in the most critical of moments. But looking lead to staring, which so often lead to some breach in distance. Contact was forbidden, as stated by the coffee table put between them.

Penny lifted her cup, still balancing it between two palms as she refused to sip from it yet. The growing nature of Lucy's grin was evident, but Penny's eyes remained locked on hers as she spoke so daringly.

No, Lucy had yet to complain about any morning she had been woken up early, even as it became something of a regular occurrence. Sucking in a breath, Penny tried to will the faint color that tinted her cheeks, instead pushing the conversation in the direction she had originally aimed for. Talking about that only made the small distance between them feel even greater.

"I'll still make it." She explained, "But the coffee maker in the dormitories hardly makes a double shot." By then, Penny knew exactly how much coffee to put into the maker - more than twice as much to make the coffee an appropriate strength for her counterpart's bold taste. "Or do you like your morning coffee that way?"

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Ignoring the desire to reach out had never been easy. Even with a table between them, Lucy knew it wouldn't take much effort to place a hand down in that table. And Penny would then reach for it, insinuated as it was by the ink manipulator herself. It meant she could make a connection and blame Lucy for it. The idea was a tempting thought, but she kept it in the back of her mind. For now, anyway.

Because Penny was blushing now, and Lucy had to literally sit up and take notice. Her eyes dropped to the colouring on her skin, her grin broadening a touch. But she was trying so hard to keep the conversation on track.

It was a fair point, because really, Lucy was lucky not to have to leave a bed to get coffee in the mornings. It was a point of a routine she wasn't keen on losing. She knew her counterpart had a clear opinion on the beverage, let alone the potency. "Only need it when I'm exhausted." Lucy replied, keeping her tone a little lighter despite the proposed meaning behind her words. She knew she should work harder to speak with a sterilised mind instead, but when was that ever easily achieved for the Australian?

"Or the day's set to be a long one." And as such, today proved deserving of that need.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

It seemed as if only Lucy acknowledged the color in Penny's cheeks, for the Brit herself actively chose to ignore it as she tried to press forward. They both knew where her mind had wandered, but that hardly meant Penny would willingly acknowledge it in any way. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on the eyes that stared back at her.

Again, it hadn't taken much for Penny to catch any other meaning behind Lucy's word. There were certainly mornings - especially those as of late - when one cup wouldn't be enough. When exhaustion came at the fault of both of them, but entirely worth it. Even with the still dull ache of her muscles, Penny never regretted the decision to wake her counterpart, or to be woken up, either.

She brought the cup to her lips, tilting it a fraction to take a sip as she then drew it away only an inch or so. "Then we should get you something stronger." She replied, the most forward Penelope Blaise could be in a moment as she brought the cup back to her lips.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

And as she spoke, there was the difference Lucy could be jealous of. A suggestive nature was expected from the Australian who had already been deemed to have questionable morals anyway, but her British counterpart was so stoic by nature; a remote shot from her still outweighed everything Lucy could offer.

"Right." She replied, exhaling the rest of her breath on a laugh. It was far too easy for her to falter Lucy's desire to respond accordingly.

Momentarily, Lucy raised the cup to her mouth. She paused as the rim pressed to her lower lip, faltering over the need to feel that caffeine hit through her mouth as much as it shot through her nose. But she craved something else far more intently, and so her free hand fell to the table, her fingers drumming the surface for a moment before she turned it to rest the back of her hand against it instead.

"You would know." She finally pressed, "The double shot's your own fault."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy's laugh was nothing short of intoxicating. It brought a slight curve to the line of Penny's lip as she slowly worked the cup away from her mouth, setting it down as she looked to her fiancée with feigned innocence. Whatever she was implying, the proper Brit was unaware of. Of course, because that was how it always seemed to work.

The first sign of movement caught Penny's attention entirely. Her gaze had dropped to Lucy's hand the moment it made contact with the table, dark eyes following the drum of her fingertips as her own twitched against the ceramic mug she held. On cue, she let go of the safety of her cup, reaching for the ink manipulator as she turned, the cool metal of a ring brushing Lucy's palm as her hand settled against it a moment later.

Eyes moved back up, caught on the Australian's lips a moment before meeting her eyes again. "Hardly." Penny explained, a factual tone taking her voice. It mirrored how they were now. Had Lucy not been so inviting - as she always was - then she wouldn't have been woken up in the first place. And with that thought, she raised her eyebrows almost daring the Australian to challenge the fact she didn't say.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Sure enough, Lucy felt the familiar hand settle into her own. She didn't need to look to know it'd be there, but her instincts forced her gaze to shoot down momentarily. It was a bare second in passing, but she knew Penny would catch it all the same. Just as she'd catch the hinted smile she wore; the rare brand she only ever wore in her company.

Because there was an obvious stint of relief to be found in that connection. Even if it was all she could get, it was so much better than nothing. And it would surely work to quell the desire to want more. Or so she thought.

She was also wrong, because now she was being challenged, and that fact fuelled frustration of a different nature.

"Oh no?" Lucy questioned, tilting her head up a fraction. It was the one physicality she could offer to rightly challenge such a daring question. She had never been built to leave something so open on its own.

And surely, Penny knew that.

"Tell me what I did."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Unable to immediately catch Lucy's eyes, Penny took a breath at the way her counterpart looked to their hands. At the way she smiled so genuinely, and how Penny knew the reason behind it. There was clear cut comfort in the connection, even as it fueled the need for more. To be closer, and to rid the barrier between them. Still, that small amount of contact was better than nothing. The logic that always came into play when she found herself reaching for the ink manipulator in impossible situations.

Finally, a wider smile broke Penny's form as she leaned in a fraction, free hand dropping to her lap rather than choosing to hide behind her teacup. Because this was a challenge; she couldn't back down from it.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're ever aware of it." She said with light amusement. "I imagine you must be on some level."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope Blaise had some of the most perfect tells an individual could carry. They were the subtle kind; those that few would ever rightly understand unless they really looked at her. For Lucy, then, her eyes were as attuned to the subtleties as they were to the wider breaks of a smile she coloured the moment with. She felt the encouragement want to draw her in. She wondered if she could still catch her lips with a table between them.

But what Penny gave her was incredibly confusing for the ink manipulator to process. As her cup hit the saucer, her now free hand raised to the line of her hair, fingers tracking the length of her hair to ensure it sat correctly across her features.

"Sleeping?" Lucy asked, and then she shrugged, "Yeah, I'd say I'm pretty aware of it."

At least, until she physically couldn't be. But it was clear enough from that that she had no idea where this conversation was going.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Eventually, Penny knew this conversation would come up. She had never actively tried to avoid it until then, but she never brought up the Australian's sleeping habits in conversation, either. Aside from the early stages of a relationship involving an overly temperamental Russian, she kept this side of Lucy to herself.

Her thumb brushed across Lucy's palm lightly, following the line of her hand until crossing her wrist. She didn't need to curl her hand around the Australian's any tighter, or even give a light pull to get her point across. Table or not, she still wished for that much more contact.

"You pull yourself close." Penny tried to explain as lightly as she could, although the Brit couldn't find anything light about the subject at all. It was far too enthralling to wake up to every day than anything else. A habit she feared would be lost at the thought of sleeping on a new bed. Her smile took on a more genuine tone as she let out a breath. "And you don't let go."