Time Warp: Branded

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Had her wife gone about this a different way, Penny would have likely never said yes. The Australian knew how to best go about things with the psychometrist, which was exactly why she sat down willingly. The ink manipulator had a hold over Penny, in the best of ways. In no way was she forcing this on the Brit, but instead managed to convince her with logic, to the point where she agreed; it was perfect. For them.

As Lucy snapped on her gloves, Penny glanced around the room. She had never actually seen someone get a tattoo done, but she was familiar with the process that took place due to Lucy's work. Her love had already set up. Like she knew it would happen. Because it was happening. It was inevitable.

“Like woah.” Penny voiced, even now the two words didn't sound right coming from her mouth, but it suited them. Together.

And that was the point of it all.

When prompted, Penny hesitated only as she slid her ring off. The feeling of her finger without the band around it immediately felt strange, yet she extended her arm, offering her hand to Lucy nonetheless. A smile pulled at her lips when she felt Lucy kiss the back of her hand; Penny briefly shifted it, fingers gently running along the line of her love's jaw for a few moments before finally surrendering her hand back to the ink manipulator.

Penny watched as Lucy picked up the gun, her eyebrows raised. Naturally, she was nervous. Anyone who wasn't nervous about pain was either numb or stupid. “Yes,” she replied. Her reply was short, but there were no signs of distress in her voice. It was just a simple answer. She caught sight of her wife's gaze only for a moment, but it was enough to make the Brit relax. Lucy always had that effect over her, in the best of ways.

Surprisingly, it didn't hurt that badly. It was annoyance, yes, but Penny had heard stories of how people couldn't handle the pain, and she couldn't help but to wonder why. Being jabbed in the finger with a tattoo gun was far from pleasant, but it wasn't unbearable, either. Still, Penny allowed herself to be distracted by the Australian, as she always did. As she spoke, the psychometrist couldn't help but o raise her eyebrows, an amused expression taking over her features. “That tattoo artist must have made quite the impression.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Of course she wanted a distraction. How could she not? It wasn't as if she found the whole process overtly daunting, but it was daunting to someone who'd never been through it before. Fifteen years had passed since Lucy first graced her skin with a tattoo - the process was second nature to her now. But this was different. This wasn't some fifteen year old kid getting tatted up in a friend's kitchen. This was her twenty-nine year old wife. This was more important than her own experience.

Lucy was incredibly glad her hair primarily hid the grin on her face, but it didn't mean Penny wouldn't get it. She'd likely know. She'd hear it in her voice. And she made no move to hide the amusement from her tone. Not in the slightest.

"I reckon she must've, yeah." Lucy replied with a small nod, taking the time to wipe the excess ink away. Not that there was much. "She used to be pretty uptight. Slapped her right in the face the first time they kissed. Can you believe that? Like, how is that a good way to respond when someone wants you?" Lucy pulled away briefly, glancing up at her to finally gather a decent reaction.

And it was everything she knew it would be. She looked back down again, "What do you think? How does some tatted up kid get to some uptight OCD Queen?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny watched carefully as Lucy worked, her eyes occasionally glancing upward to catch her wife’s focused expression, but for most of it, she kept fixed on her own finger. There were a few moments where her lips would purse from the needle, but otherwise her expression remained neutral, if not amused by the distraction Lucy provided.

“Maybe she wasn’t expecting to be kissed,” Penny replied lightly as Lucy wiped the small amount of ink away, “It sounds like they hated each other, so maybe she should have seen it coming” She ran a thumb over the ring held in her free hand, a smile pulling at her lips. “But, it worked seems to have worked out in the end, from the sounds of it.” Her smile pulled up into a small grin, “The slap must have been worth it.”

Again, Penny looked up at her counterpart. If Lucy hadn’t been working on permanently injecting ink into her skin, she would have reached across the work surface and kissed her in that moment. It was honestly hard not to anyway. “I’m not sure. Maybe she was a really good kisser.” She paused, watching for Lucy’s expression, “Or it was just inevitable that they would be together."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Discrepancies and mistakes were impossible for Lucy. Ability or no, she was a perfectionist in her work. Every line were drawn with such precision and purpose - even something as minor as this specific tattoo. And it was for her. But more importantly, it was for her love.

She visibly grinned when Penny answered. She even laughed the more she continued. It was impossible not to find amusement in the way her wife played along with her. Anything to keep her distracted as she finished the first word.

And it was a decent distraction for herself, too. Something about tattooing her beloved made her even more irresistible.

Lucy exhaled a drawn out sigh. Later. "I reckon she was dying to slap her. Had been for a while." Lucy tried anyway.

"Inevitable." Lucy repeated, raising her eyebrows at the word. "Yeah, that must be a thing. She got that word and a wedding band tattooed underneath her real one as a surprise. I heard it made her wife go crazy."

She didn't look up then, but her expression would have likely been well worth taking in. So she pressed on anyway; "There's a pretty damn fine line between hate and-" Lucy paused, stopping at the line she drew and looking up, "-You." She breathed a laugh at the fact, shaking her head at the thought of hating her. Distant as it seemed, "Y'know?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

“I’m sure it wasn’t the first time she amused the idea.” Penny raised her eyebrows, “Possibly not the last, either. You never know.” Although Penny was being provided with the distraction, she continued to play along with her wife. Jokes weren’t exactly her forte, but the Brit still made an attempt to humor the Australian.

Thinking back on the day Lucy had tattooed inevitable in the form of a band over her ring finger, Penelope knew well enough that it did make her go crazy. “Did this tattoo artist expect her not to? I would imagine it’d drive her just as crazy to tattoo her wife.” A small smirk pulled at her lips.

Watching Lucy work was something the Brit found captivating, even more so when she was working on her.

She raised her eyebrows when Lucy paused, catching her love’s dark eyes. The statement, along with Lucy’s amusement, brought a light laugh from Penny. “I’m not sure I do.” She stated lightly, taking in a breath to try and keep herself from leaning forward and kissing her counterpart. Although, honestly, Penny did understand. It was clear in her eyes as she looked back at Lucy. They had claimed to hate each other, even as it only felt like a blink in time of their entire relationship; “Care to enlighten me?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Honestly, Lucy enjoyed the moments in time where Penny attempted to joke alongside her. She appreciated the attempt, no matter the outcome. "You're right. I'm actually sure of it." She replied with an amused grin.

Carefully, Lucy drew away from her hand when she continued on, dropping a sharp exhale. She refused to look up at her for long; all she offered was a quick glance. Because eye contact was bound to be dangerous. "I imagine you're imagining it right." She offered in time. Damn. That was just unfair.

She felt the corner of her mouth threaten to drag with amusement when Penny claimed she didn't understand her. Of course she understood her. Still, she could entertain her. She was glad to.

"Oh, I'm dying to enlighten you." Lucy glanced at her counterpart's mouth briefly before her eyes away again, drawing back the excess ink with her ability as opposed to the norm. "At a certain point, you gotta realise why you think you hate someone so much. Maybe it is all high school type shit." The ink manipulator took a moment to arch her back, rolling her shoulders before leaning forward and starting in on the final letter.

She was glad her face was all but hidden; "Maybe you just know they're a bit better than you."

Leaning back finally, Lucy left the tattoo gun on the adjacent counter, opting to lift her hand in her own and run her finger across the newly acquired ink underneath her skin. Cleaning it off. Fine tuning every single line within the silence.

"You're done, love." She said lightly, finally offering eye contact.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

If the frustration Lucy wore wasn't clear in how she held herself, it was obvious in the way she replied to Penny. The responses drawing a grin out of the Brit. She knew how her wife felt, it was a shared connection, and she could read it in the subtleties of Lucy's behavior, but hearing it from the Australian was enticing to say the lease. Penny slowly sucked in another breath at the idea of what she was imagining.

That breath was short lived, for it caught in her throat when she caught Lucy glancing up at her lips. Knowing her wife was looking at her, and the intention behind that glance caused Penny to sink her teeth into her lower lip. She glanced down at her hand. It was the last letter. Almost done. Almost home. Although Penny honestly considered not letting them get that far. It wouldn't be the first time one of them was too impatient to stand the drive home.

But that thought was cut off when Lucy spoke again. Eyebrows furrowed together at the statement, and she stared back at her wife as her lips pursed together. Even as Lucy pulled away and announced that she was done, Penny didn't look back down at her hand, nor did she even move it from its spot on the table. Her eyes caught Lucy's dark ones, and she waited a moment, trying to find the answer in her expression before she spoke; “Why would you think that?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy felt her heartbeat shift suddenly when she watched the way Penny's teeth bit down into her lip. It was irritating to have worked so hard to get her to commit to this in that moment, given how desperately she wanted to abandon the concept. At least for a little while.

The simple fact that she'd agreed to get a tattoo in the first place had been a huge thing for Lucy. The fact that it was actually happening was... Indescribable.

Lucy kept contact with her hand, feeling the presence of new ink underneath her skin. She didn't move it. Not then. But she felt it. She continued to trail a fingertip across the tattoo, allowing Penny to try to find the meaning behind her expression. Clouded. Lacking detail. But she knew her wife would find the conviction either way; the fact that she believed it.

Still, despite the topic she offered something of a knowing smile. It was no secret that Lucy harboured the difficulty that came with feeling deserving. She'd always struggled to believe she was genuinely worthy of the life she found herself leading. And the people that led her through it. But why, she'd never say. Not until now.

"Because, I'm me." Lucy replied quietly, draining any possible ill feelings from her tone of voice, "And you're... You."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Her finger was sensitive from the fresh ink ingrained into it; still she didn’t pull away as she felt Lucy’s finger graze across it. Penny could feel the ink under her skin, but knowing that she could as well made the light movement of her fingertip all that much more personal.

Lucy believed what she said. It was clear in her tone. In her dark eyes. She pursed her lips as Lucy explained. The particular sentence she used had brought on more conviction than if she had decided to word it different way, and Penny was well aware of the meaning behind it.

She shifted her hand, intertwining her fingers with Lucy’s as she slowly stood. Her free hand reached forward, fingers brushing lightly across the Australian’s cheekbone before traveling downward along her jaw line.

“You’re right. You’re you.” She stressed the word purposely, keeping her eyes on her wife. She let out a light sigh. “You know I only want the best,” the Brit lightly squeezed her counterpart’s hand. She stepped around the table, her hand traveling down to rest behind Lucy’s neck. “That’s why I married you.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Honestly, Lucy had no intention of shifting the conversation to such a serious note. It would have been so much easier to completely disregard the topic itself - or at the very least, try to - but she was incredibly aware that Penny wouldn't let such a thing happen. That was a clear fact already. The expression on her face only made it more evident.

She didn't look as Penny intertwined their fingers together. Rather, she reciprocated the simple action with precision. Second nature that it was. The ink underneath her skin felt fresh, and as such, the ink manipulator found it distracting. But she found her mind devoid of such a fact when Penny reached out towards her. She lost the hardened edge she wore. The confusion. She could never keep ill feelings on her face when such familiar fingers brushed across her jaw.

Her words carried conviction. Then again, they always did. She always found the means to believe her, but this was the one thing she struggled with. The exception to the rule. As things changed, this so rarely shifted.

"I'm glad you did." Lucy replied in time, keeping her eyes focused on her counterpart as she squeezed her hand. It was all she could offer - not an ounce of confirmation that she agreed, or denial in that she didn't. Dropping her gaze, she leaned in and gently pressed a kiss to her wife's wrist. "You wanna go?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny watched the way her wife’s features softened. It wasn’t the first time she had seen a shift in her expression like that, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Still, it did little to ease Penny’s feelings on the topic, even as she felt her own features soften as she squeezed her hand.

Her own hand continued to trail along Lucy’s jaw, down the line of her neck before settling on the ink manipulator’s shoulder, squeezing it lightly. She let out a slow breath, wanting to push. Wishing to find some way for this girl to understand how undeniably perfect she was for Penny.

She leaned down, lightly kissing Lucy’s hair as she spoke; “I love you.” She stated, her accent taking a gentler tone as she closed her eyes. Upon feeling the minimal contact to her wrist, she smiled against Lucy’s dark locks. “Do you need to do anything before we do?”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy remained silent, falling into the notion of the way her wife drew her hand across her form. A light squeeze to her shoulder caused her to roll them back once, to further ease the tension she carried. She knew what Penny wanted to achieve, but it would likely be as Sawyer always implied; never would Lucy Serrano feel worthy of Penelope Blaise.

She smiled into the fact that Penny loved her. "I know." She replied, because she believed it. Her.

Drawing herself to a stand, Lucy chose to intertwine her hand with Penny's, bringing the newly developed ink to her sight line again. "No." She replied honestly, raising her other hand to brush the tattoo again.

"Do you know why this is so important to me?" She asked, glancing up to catch her eyes again.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Even if it was impossible to convince the Australian otherwise, Penny knew that Lucy deserved her. The psychometrist couldn’t have asked for a better person to spend the rest of her life with. If anything, Penelope was lucky.

“Good.” Penny replied, a hint of sternness in her voice. She reciprocated the movement of her counterpart as their fingers intertwined, her thumb brushing over Lucy’s lightly.

As her wife’s finger grazed the fresh ink on Penny’s finger, the Brit glanced down at it. Unconsciously, the corner of her mouth twitched upwards. Her focus remained on their hands, even as Lucy spoke.

She raised her eyebrows, pausing a moment before finally choosing to look up and meet her eyes. She knew what the two words meant. The first time she used them. The memory alone made Penny smile, although she’d refuse to admit it. “Why don’t you tell me?” She asked, bringing her free hand to Lucy’s side.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

It was incredibly rare for Lucy Serrano to feel tense or nervous. The expression on her features didn't shift as her wife prompted her to continue speaking. To explain herself.

"Because it was perfect. It was the most precisely annoying thing. And you took it anyway." She could have easily gone through all the points Penny had given her countlessly over why it was such a broken sentence, but she didn't. She didn't need to.

For the moment she felt herself become distracted by the nature of the ink beneath her fingertip. "But that night," Lucy started, knowing all too well that she didn't need to reiterate which night it was she was referring to. "That's when I fell in love with you." Lucy searched her expression for a spare moment before quickly tugging on her hand, stepping away towards the door.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

The curious expression Penny offered slowly shifted as she felt her features soften at Lucy's words. Her fingers curled tighter around Lucy's hand, all except the ring finger beneath Lucy's touch, which she allowed the Australian to keep her focus on.

Penny felt her lip twitch upward as she exhaled. She knew well that her counterpart loved her, and had for a long time now. But this was new. Lucy had never told her the night. She opened her mouth, intent to speak. To say anything.

But again it was proven that Lucy Serrano could forever put Penny at a loss of words.

As her hand was tugged, Penny tugged back in response, stepping closer to Lucy as she pulled her inward and kissing her.