Tiger Eyes Making You Blush

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

After signing for their apartment, the pair barely had time to spend in it. Most of which was spent shuffling boxes into the empty space. A trip to New York took them even further away from their new home, but for the sake of much needed furniture. Hours of driving to the Brit's home-state in order to find what was needed to make their apartment livable.

Apparently, it only really required a bed. Was it worth the hours of driving? Absolutely.

Her counterpart was never the best for morning driving, but they managed to leave New York at a decent enough time, making their way back to Pilot Ridge with a car filled with Ikea goods. At least, the most necessary of Ikea goods. Any longer in the Swedish store, and they would have been in dangerous territory. Penny held her breath as she recalled how impossible it was to resist the Australian. How much effect a single section of the store had over her.

Back at home now, Penny walked through the halls of the apartment. Their apartment. Quiet steps brought her to the larger of the two bedrooms, and there she found her counterpart.

"Do you need help?" Penny asked, eyes landing on the ink manipulator who was in charge of putting together the frame. There was plenty to still do, but the Brit couldn't help but to check in on the Australian regardless. Straying far was never a real option if it didn't have to be. So she lingered in the doorway, eyes set on Lucy.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

If there was one thing Lucy could do better than her counterpart, it was build things. Though she had one of the shortest tempers in Pilot Ridge, she knew how well her skill set could be applied to something like this. She had dragged it into the room they were supposed to share, because keeping her hands busy with something like this was much safer than allowing them to wander as her mind did.

A bed might have been the important thing they brought back from their trip to New York, but Lucy could argue that the short series of bruises fading on her shoulder could rival the furniture's significance with relative ease.

When she heard the familiar voice behind her, she was situated on the floor at a corner of the bed. Somehow she managed to prop the end up with her shoulder, her extended foot cradling one of the sides to keep it level enough. But Penny's presence threatened that wavering stability, because now that she existed, concentration was already proving to waver. And she knew in turn her presence did the same for her counterpart, especially when she'd had to tie her hair up so it wouldn't continuously get in the way.

"No offense, but this is the kinda shit that makes people kill each other." Lucy finally replied, refusing to actually look at the distraction in the doorway.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

It was a sight to see, the way Lucy so determinedly set forth on the bed frame. Admittedly, Penny wasn't the best at putting furniture together, simply because she took longer than the average person to do so. Were it her situated on the floor instead of her counterpart, there would have been a level out, as well as some extra unnecessary tools. It was why she allowed Lucy to do it in the first place; she seemed positive she had this.

Her nose crinkled and eyebrows rose as Lucy spoke. A reaction for both the language used and the statement itself. Even so, her gaze fell to the exposed curve of Lucy's neck. The Australian so rarely wore it up, but in the moments she did, it was often because of some sort of work. The sort Penny wasn't supposed to interfere with.

"Pardon?" She asked, unsure exactly what her counterpart was getting at. Having no experience at building anyone with another person, there wasn't the same sort of insight that Lucy likely had. Instead, she took a step closer, daring as it might have been to do so.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

It was probably a good thing that Lucy couldn't directly see Penny. A look always turned into a stare, and when the stakes were as big as moving into a place together, those stares would always drag to something more. How her eyes would have fallen from hers without a moment to spare. How her gaze would have lingered, beckoning her in without a word. Because when it came to looking, words weren't necessary.

But she wasn't looking, and because of that decision, composure wasn't so hard to maintain. She just had to do her best to keep it that way. Her focus landed elsewhere; she could put a bed to good use once she'd actually built it.

"Building shit like this, I dunno, it just drags the rage outta people. It's totally a one person thing." She explained, though she had to wonder just how helpful an explanation like that was. It didn't express much, because really, she didn't know how to express it. Footsteps were dragging her counterpart closer, and she could hear them. Without the means to argue with her choice, Lucy straightened her back instinctively instead, almost like she knew contact was coming. Or like she was asking for it.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

There was something irksome about being unable to meet Lucy's gaze, yet at the same time it left the opportunity for Penny to openly stare at her counterpart. There was little shame in looking - especially now - but the Brit always let her gaze linger for a little longer while knowing she was unaware just where she looked. Despite the way Lucy held herself, it still was easy to allow her gaze to wander.

Especially when she responded in such a way. The Brit had barely taken two steps into the room, and Lucy's physical stance had already started to change. If anything, it was encouraging in the worst of ways. Enough to pull Penny in another few steps; as quiet as she tried to make herself, she knew her counterpart was aware of her nearing presence.

But could she blame her when she had been allowed to stare so freely? Dark eyes remained fixed on the form sitting down on the floor, taking careful steps around the half built frame in order to find her counterpart. "Hmm." Penny replied with a roll of her shoulders, quickly deciding that it was likely true, especially when it came down to the pair. Building something together could quickly turn hostile.

Bending her knees, she dropped to Lucy's level. Watching the ink manipulator work so intently was enthralling within itself. She was taking up responsibility and trying to be good, which, in turn, made everything that much more harder. Her lips gently pressed to Lucy's opposite shoulder, offering the only contact she could in the moment.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Penelope Blaise was as persistent as she was magnetic, frustrating and at times, insufferable. She could fight with the ink manipulator as quickly as she could kiss her; all the while, she constantly proved just how much of Lucy's attention she could snag with massive or minor input. Here, she was playing in minor leagues. At least, her slow approach had proceeded to offer a more subtle edge.

But a hum past her lips was the threat of an agreement; Lucy should have counted it a victory. Instead, she was counting her steps. She felt the way the world practically moved for her love as she brought herself to the level of Lucy Serrano and her measly confidence.

With lips to her shoulder, she almost dropped the entire thing then and there. She took a slow breath inward, shifting her wrist which in turn worked the tool in her hand. If she could tighten one more bolt, they were practically golden. But parted lips offered an audible exhale instead, and her mouth dragged to a knowing smirk for the display of presence and power.

"If you don't watch yourself, you'll be sleeping on a mattress on the floor tonight." She offered, hardly as a warning. No, there were greater things that developed from the simpler thought.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

It was easy to fall when proximity was in play. They both knew the fact as the psychometrist made the bold move to go as far as to make a small, but significant connection between them. Eyes closed, she could feel the way Lucy faltered, just as she was sure the ink manipulator could feel the way it forced her to grin against her skin. She lingered there, hands slowly extending to find Lucy's sides where they eventually rested in the lightest possible way.

The curve of her mouth only grew as Lucy spoke, going so far as to exhaling a light amount of amusement against the Australian's skin. Slowly, Penny trailed up across her shoulder, finding her neck as she precisely pressed her lips down again.

"No I wont." She replied simply, because despite the fact that she had scrubbed the floor three times already, there was no way Penelope Blaise would allow the mattress to hit the floor without the plastic that covered it, let alone sleep there. If they slept at all. She placed another kiss at the curve of Lucy's neck. "I'll put it together myself, if I have to."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

As if it weren't difficult enough, hands had were quick to find Lucy's form. The second they landed - however light they were - they captured all focus Lucy might have had on fixing a singular point of a bed. Her lips pressed together tightly, if only to stop herself from laughing at the entire moment. Only seconds together and she felt the way her heart wanted to escape the stability of a seemingly mundane task.

Penny offered what she would to provide something of a laugh, and that within itself was rare. She could have been nervous or anxious over the move, but instead, her love was lighter. It was as if she believed there was nothing to worry about. Or perhaps simply, nothing yet.

Despite how sturdy she wanted to be, she was tilting her neck at the welcomed connection Penny was making. There was little she could do to fault the contact now that it found a sweeter place to rest. But for what she offered, Penny still gave resistance. Another fortifying turn and at least she knew the corner of the bed that barely held her focus was done with.

"Like you'd bloody well have time." She replied, reaching back to catch her fingers in her hair instead; "I reckon you'd find something better to do."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Although her counterpart was trying to offer some sort of resistance, it seemed as if she were just barely getting by with it. The tilt of Lucy's neck was more than encouraging; Penny took the chance to follow the curve of it the moment she could before the ink manipulator had a chance to change her mind. As she reached the base of Lucy's jaw, she lingered, exhaling against her skin as she felt familiar fingers rake through her hair.

Even as her nose crinkled, the curve of her lip was couldn't falter just yet. Hands tracked forward to Lucy's hips as she pressed herself against her counterpart's back.

Fortunately, she couldn't see the way such a statement made her falter. Trying her best to cover it, she kissed the ink manipulator again. "We're not sleeping on the floor." She pointed out sternly - or rather, as sternly as she could possibly be in such an intimate moment. It was rare for her to try to put a halt in any sort of work, but she couldn't stop, either. "You have this." She added for light encouragement despite the way her movements spoke otherwise.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy developed her concept into something a little easier to manage. Resistance was relatively futile, but the impossibility of a position could only work in her favour. With half the bed now put together, she knew she'd have to move to get to the rest, but a single shift and she might have found herself caught on something different entirely. So she remained in place, her free hand slowly easing the side of the bed off her foot; it wasn't as if it needed propping up now, but she still kept an edge against her shoulder anyway.

"I got no issue with the floor." Lucy replied, shrugging her shoulders to the fact. Still, her fingers tightened in those familiar locks. After all, she was the one playing in such dangerous proximity.

Then came the statement reworked and coined by her love's corrected grammar. She spoke as if she had real faith in Lucy's ability to put together furniture. Or resist her her. At least she was adept at one of those things.

"I don't reckon I do, love." She admitted easily, but there was nothing easy or even simple about how distracted she clearly sounded.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

In reality, Penny was all too aware that Lucy couldn't rightfully resist the Brit. She offered Lucy the reassuring statement with the pure hopes to get exactly what Lucy had offered her; an admission wrapped within a distracted tone. With it, came the nickname only she had right to use for her.

Hands tightened within her hair and she less out a useless breath, her own finding the hem of Lucy's shirt and ducking under the fabric. Her fingertips brushed along Lucy's stomach, skin to skin as she kissed her neck once more.

"You have no issues with the floor." Penny couldn't help the correction that passed her lips, even if it was delayed. Even then, the sentence was bumbling, but she barely had the thought to go on about sentence structure, too. It was a short point made, however, as she pressed her lips against Lucy's skin a second time. On the third, her teeth sunk in lightly.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

It had been wrong for Lucy to assume that a series of minutes alone would be awarded to her. Despite the importance of her job - and Penny had only highlighted it's imperative nature moments ago - she should have expected a lingering reaction from the psychometrist. A house stripped clean by her own choice, but there was still something to distract her from the things she had wanted to get done before Lucy managed to build a bed.

Instead, they were on the floor like this, tangled awkwardly as if the stranger quality even mattered. As if it effected how skin to skin contact; as if it could ever settle the beating wings at her hips. She could only hope Penny wouldn't venture so far to check, but she had her doubts that they'd be on their own for much longer.

Hands tightened within her hair and she less out a useless breath, her own finding the hem of Lucy's shirt and ducking under the fabric. Her fingertips brushed along Lucy's stomach, skin to skin as she kissed her neck once more.

Parted lips worked up the courage to argue how she didn't care if the mattress his the floor without a thing to prop it up. But teeth caught her skin before a word could fly, and all she could immediately offer was the sharper way she lost the air she held. With it went the argument, her stubborn nature very nearly in tow.

"Love," Lucy practically warned, because the next thing she thought to offer would hardly discourage her counterpart.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny could practically feel resistance slipping away from her counterpart, as if it had ever truly existed in the first place. It was a reminder as to just how intoxicating the Australian was. What was supposed to be a simple check in was hardly that - and how did she think it would be? The Brit had set herself up for failure.

When the familiar nickname filled the air with such emphasis, Penny lost her breath. She lingered close, but her lips only brushed Lucy's skin rather than placing definite pressure. It was clear she was struggling, as was Penny herself. It wouldn't have been much longer if she were to let Lucy finish, yet the thought was almost impossible to entertain as she pressed her palms to Lucy's sides. As uncomfortable as the position they found themselves in, she couldn't think to move.

"I should let you work." Penny pointed out; after all, she was the one who was so often labeled as responsible. Putting off necessary tasks wasn't something the Brit was fond of, but neither was being unable to touch her counterpart.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Wavering confidence wasn't exactly rare for Lucy. When it came to her counterpart, there was little she could do. It was the only instance where she had ever tried responsibility, and every time she did, she notoriously failed miserably. It was why she was so predictable; why the wings at her hips were beating so profusely after only moments of contact. Penny probably already knew, and it was probably why she hadn't ventured that far. If she did, she mightn't ever stop.

There was a degree of curiosity to the way Penny spoke; at least, the Australian found herself a little curious. Lucy wasn't sure what to make of the fact that she could acknowledge that she needed to move, yet she still refused to. As far as taking a decent breath went, the ink manipulator knew not to bother trying. She needed to find some kind of strength or clarity, but she lacked neither.

Nor did she have particular standards.

"That or I'm about to fuck you on the bloody floor itself." Lucy replied, tension clear in her tone. Because as it stood, the concept didn't seem so unfathomable.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Despite the way Penny spoke, there was no way she could find a way to move herself away from the Australian. Hands only moved along her form rather than away from it. Across her ribs, her palms slowly found her hips - there, fingertips brushed across wings she knew were beating as rapidly as the pulse she could feel against her lips.

Her nose crinkled with the curse that filled the air, but in the same she exhaled sharply against Lucy's skin at the actual message her counterpart was getting across.

It shouldn't have been a surprise that Lucy's low standards would bring her to such a thought. Her hands tightened on the ink manipulator's hips briefly, nails dragging across inked skin. Penny had only just pointed out that she refused to allow their mattress to hit the floor, yet as she finally shifted her hands away, it was only so one could lift the frame of their half built bed off of Lucy's shoulder. A quick shift, and she twisted both herself and her counterpart, pressing her back against the hardwood floor.