Time Warp: Moon As My Witness

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The simple sound she offered ignited Lucy's mentality with a new concept; she seriously considered just how long it would take her to give into it. A split second of thought and she felt the obvious draw of staying for just a little longer. She could've managed. She was almost positive.

But in the end, responsible instincts hauled her away before she considered it too intently. She'd be back. There'd be time. While these were always active concepts, they were still completely fresh to actually adhere to.

Planned steps away led her away from the trail of clothing to the closet instead. She felt the ink beneath her skin struggle to settle, because she didn't need to look back to know there were eyes on her. Sparrows still fluttered hard against her hips, the silent admission forcing her teeth into her lower lip as she tried to keep her attention focused. Procuring a shirt, she promptly dragged it on, hands filtering along the back of her neck to drag her hair out of the fabric. With a band around her wrist, she made the move to tie her dark locks up to keep them away.

A prompt glance over her shoulder as she reached for a set of shorts did absolutely nothing to keep her settled. She felt the curve of his lips against the back of her thigh, how he grinned at the psychometrist in the most irritatingly suggestive way before he was partially covered.

The steps back towards her were careful - the kind that warned herself not to get so easily pulled back in. Pressing a hand into the bed, the ink manipulator leaned down towards her, kissing her lightly before forcing a minor break. "You should rest." Lucy tried, though she knew the words hardly mattered. But spending all day on her own with a child might have made the concept easier to achieve.

It wasn't until she made her way towards the door that she leaned down to pick up the various scattered clothes left behind. First her own, then the dress her counterpart had left without a second thought. It all went where it belonged - in the hamper before Penny could even consider getting up to get to it first.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy rarely wore her hair up, and as the dark locks were pulled up into a band, the Brit found her gaze settling on the exposed line of her neck. As irresponsible as it seemed, she tried not to indulge in the thought of leaving bed just to pull her back into it. Without the ability to do so, she drew the sheets up to her shoulders, lips pressing together into a hardened line while trying to settle with the material to keep her warm instead of her counterpart.

But she hardly blamed the ink manipulator for getting up. She had been about to herself before Lucy had told her to stay.

As her gaze moved back down, it wasn’t long before Penny caught sight of the grin King Varian wore. That particular one he always gave the psychometrist. With a tilt up of her chin, she raised her eyebrows once, features settling into a something of her own reserved smile, but it was so much more than that. It always was.

Her attention was dragged upward again as Lucy turned back to her. How easy it would have been to curl her hands into the shirt she just put on, but with light reciprocation, Penny let her wife slip away. With a breath, Penny almost laughed. The closest she could come to laughing within that moment.

“I’ll be sure to try.” She replied with light amusement as Lucy picked up their close. It felt like a move Penny often made herself, because it was exactly that. She was usually the first to clean or pick up clothes between the two of them, and she knew what it meant for Lucy to do so. She wasn’t leaving the bed.

“Are you going to bring him in here?” She asked, eyebrows rising. Being away from one of them at a time was hard within itself, both felt like torture already.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Truth be told, Lucy would have been grateful had she known the silent difficulty her counterpart suffered from. Had she made a single move to reach out, Lucy would have surely felt a heavier desire to falter. There was another life involved now, but that hardly made anything any easier. She felt the magnetic draw of Penelope Blaise just as much as she had when she first got involved with her.

"Right." Lucy replied, an ounce of sarcasm injected into her tone. She doubted Penny would try to rest. More to the point, she doubted the new mother would inevitably have a choice.

Pursing her lips, Lucy tossed a glance over her shoulder before she turned, taking short backwards steps towards the door instead. She rolled her shoulders once in a shrug, "I wasn't going to. You're very distracting." She admitted. Bringing him in felt like it would offer the opposite effect she'd been going for.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Although she was told to stay and rest, Penny seriously considered getting out of bed regardless. She struggled to some extent to keep herself from just doing nothing. Penelope kept herself busy one way or another as a norm, and her life only became more so after having their first child.

But she took away her excuse by putting clothes in the hamper. Even so, she still considered the option of following her counterpart the moment she walked out the door.

Her lips pressed together, fingers twitching as she pressed her palm into the mattress, expression shifting from both the memory that threatened her fingertips and the desire to get up.

“How am I a distraction if I’m supposed to be resting?” She questioned with a twitch of her eyebrows, the corner of her mouth threatening to pull upward. Even so, she settled down, leaning back against the headrest as she watched the ink manipulator carefully.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Slow steps backwards towards the door did everything to drag the moment out. Lucy felt the overwhelming urge to linger for as long as she absolutely could; standing between the two was never a safe place to be, but there she was regardless. Too long and the psychometrist would most definitely work to leave the comfort of their bed to attend to him. Too soon and she'd leave to follow.

Lucy watched as she moved, tilting her head with an almost threatening glance until she stopped to sit up instead.

Did this really need to be spelled out, or was she going to enjoy herself far too much?

"Because you're hot." Lucy tried, raising a hand to run her fingers across her hair, ensuring it all still stayed to one side, "And you're in bed, and you're naked, and it really doesn't matter if you talk or you don't cause you're still there." With a forward hand, she indicated towards her. As if her tone hadn't emphasised the predicament enough, "And I'm still not done."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Each step Lucy took away felt like unknown encouragement to make the psychometrist move. She stayed however with her counterpart's barely threatening glance. What would she plan had Penny moved, anyway?

But she couldn't ask, because as easily as it happened as a teenager, Penny's cheeks flared up at Lucy's forward comment. She hadn't thought the ink manipulator would go as far as to say it, but then again what ever stopped Lucy Serrano before?

Her eyebrows lowered, feigning irritation and clearly failing to manage it. "I'll still be here when you get back." She'd stay, this once because it was so clearly what she wanted. "So don't take too long." Although she'd never really ask her wife to rush when it came to caring for their son, she couldn't help the light remark back. Or as light as she could be when flustered.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Just as little had changed for her counterpart, Lucy's forward nature was still very much in tact from her earlier years. She never struggled with talking about the physical aspects of their relationship. Too often, she made a point of doing so for the obvious gain; a blushing Penelope Blaise was ridiculously enthralling.

"Exactly." Lucy replied, her voice light as she dragged out the single word. Penny would still be there when she got back. She wouldn't leave. She wouldn't really move.

And as she stepped through the doorway, Lucy wondered if she should actually rest. She mightn't even be awake when she returned.

Stepping back, she pressed her hands against the frame of the door and leaned against it with her shoulder, peering through.

"Do you want me to bring him back?" She asked finally. In the end, it was always her choice. Lucy saw no need to deny her of her overt parental wants and desires, "If I sit with him in here will you settle, too?"

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Settling when Lucy walked away was never easy. It was a rarity for Penny to spend time within their bed without her wife there as well. Even more so when she was so clearly right there. It made it hard to ease back down, but she did nonetheless upon the Australian’s request.

The question gave way to a conflicting answer; in a way, it was impossible to deny the option to see their son, and in the same it was impossible to deny her. With both options brought to the table, it wasn’t easy to choose.

“I doubt it.” She offered, answering without actually doing so. “It’s fine.”

Because in all honesty, she was tired. A day spent caring after an infant was no easy task, but it didn’t matter. Motherly instincts would still choose him over her own rest no matter what, even if the one person she trusted to look after him was there.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy immediately frowned, struggling with the answer Penny gave. It was always easier when her counterpart aided her with a definite decision. Lingering amidst both options was never easy. Especially when she looked like that. And he stirred like that.

Raising a hand, she pointed towards her and shook her head with a laugh; "You're impossible."

With a push to the frame of the door, Lucy drifted from Penny's sight. Even steps towards his room had the Australian wondering how the Brit would rest. How she'd avoid the imprinted thoughts and feelings and desperation was beyond her. She didn't need psychometry to let her mind get caught in the prior encounter; it was futile to even try to forget.

Of course she wasn't done.

When Lucy found him again, careful hands eased him from the bed he stirred in as she pressed him close. Already she could hear the growing tone of her own hum against her ears, soothing notions past her lips to keep him calm. To keep him settled.

The more time she spent there, the more her heart refused to settle. A gentle bounce to each slow step around the room kept his attention as it couldn't trap hers. Dark eyes momentarily landed where they'd been standing not too long ago. The imperative way she'd wanted to talk to Penny was something she couldn't forget.

Lips parted, Lucy exhaled a slow breath, the quality of the rolling lullaby she gave him coming to an abrupt halt.

"I want another you."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

"Yet here I stand." A pause with raised eyebrows. "Figuratively." Had she been allowed to stand without being scolded by her counterpart, she would have. The laugh Lucy gave almost bringing her own out of Penny, but as the ink manipulator left the room she settled back down. Still, it wasn't easy to settle by any means.

And it wasn't long before she heard the familiar hum over the intercom. Just as it relaxed their son, it eased a smile onto her lips as she closed her eyes. Maybe resting wasn't a horrible idea; she could already feel the threat of it creeping into the back of her mind as she let out a shallow breath.

As silence cut through the room, Penny's eyes snapped open. Before she could troubleshoot why it had suddenly become so quiet, her wife's voice came through the monitor. Her accent drew any thought of rest from her mind; or rather, specifically what the accented voice said.

Because regardless that the ink manipulator told her to stay, she couldn't. Pushing herself from the bed, Penny moved to the closet, finding one of Lucy's t-shirts and shorts as she slid them on quickly and quietly. Precise steps brought her to the open door of Lincoln's room, and it was her turn to lean against the frame of it, eyebrows raised and arms crossed, although there wasn't a negative feature within her expression.

"And you tell him before me?" She asked lightly, softly enough to ensure she wouldn't wake the boy in her wife's arms.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The words filtered past her lips with such ease now. Lucy recalled the sudden struggle she'd faced when she first tried. Though it wasn't been all that long ago, it felt ridiculous to know she couldn't speak.

But a voice at the door sent a shockwave up her spine, forcing her to straighten her back. Gentle whispered tones did nothing to settle the moment; the boy in her arms so close to the paradise of slumber that any potential threat to that worried the Australian.

Turning slightly, she faced the woman she loved and pursed her lips. A small, inaudible shh passed them. A subtle request not to speak. Mild anxious panic in her eyes.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

As easily as Penny could have argued that Lucy had only just spoken, she didn't. It wasn't worth the useless fight that was risked if she did say something. Coupled with the fact that she, too, didn't wish to wake their son. So she offered a small smile at her wife's pursed lips as she eased herself from the frame of the door and took light steps into the room.

Without a word, she leaned into Lucy, pressing her lips gently to her cheek. Careful enough to move without disturbing their child as she drew away and looked down at him. Fingers twitched with the desire to reach out to him, but doing so would surely wake him, even if it was the lightest touch. She didn't dare.

Instead she lingered another moment against Lucy before completely drawing away. Trying to catch her eyes, Penny smiled at her. Anything to rid the anxiety from her eyes and calm her. Her hand filtered up, squeezing the back of her wife's neck lightly before she started to take slow steps out the door.

Clearly, she had this.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

When Lucy saw Penny move, she quickly wondered if she would leave her, but definite steps brought her even closer still. The feeling of her lips against her cheek drew a wavering breath from the ink manipulator, the shake lacking the subtlety she wished she could maintain.

She watched her attention fall to him, the obvious draw threatening to steal the idea of rest from her counterpart yet again. It was a near-impossible back and forth.

But the moment Penny wanted it, Lucy looked at her. The smile she wore forced the Australian's eyes to her lips instinctively. Pressure to the back of her neck did nothing to ease the faltering quality of her breathing, and as Penny walked away she held the air in her lungs for a few spare moments.

Lucy let her go, attuning her senses to the boy in her arms for however long it would take to completely soothe him. But there was no way she could keep her mind from wandering. She wanted to start this new process again. No, she wanted to build on it. Another child with the one she loved so intently; someone for their son to grow alongside no matter the difficulty that clearly came along with two young children around the same age.

It didn't matter. She wanted more. Needed more. And that desire was first shared with him.

Eventually Lucy allowed him to settle in his crib again. She lingered for as long as she could to ensure his slumber before she left the room. A deep breath and she knew she'd be walking into a room with a sleeping psychometrist. But as she opened the door, she quickly realised she was wrong.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny left Lucy in peace with the boy in her arms, and as hard as it was to walk away from them, she somehow managed, telling herself that she’d be back to their room soon, and he’d be there when he woke up. She could have easily stayed – and she very much wanted to, but the shift in Lucy’s breathing hadn’t gone unnoticed. The sooner he settled, the sooner she’d be back.

So she took careful steps away, glancing back once to the two most important people in her life before stepping through the door’s threshold.

But there was no chance she was about to rest. As close as she had come to sleep only minutes before, the Brit was now wide awake and had no intention of trying to remedy that. Still, she crawled back into bed, this time taking hold of her book from the bedside table. Something to keep her busy and distracted while Lucy tended to him.

She had taken longer than needed; Penny was positive of it. And really, that fact didn’t surprise her. The brief shot of panic Lucy wore hadn’t quite left the psychometrist’s mind yet. When she did finally return, Penny glanced up from her book, breath catching in her throat as she looked at the ink manipulator. “Welcome back.”

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

There was something incredibly daunting about seeing Penny still up. A quick glance across her form - which was never quick, no matter the circumstances - had her eyes landing firmly on the book she held; proof that the psychometrist was actively trying to keep herself awake for the ink manipulator's return.

"Penny." She tried, raising a hand to the band in her hair as she slowly drew it out. Moment later she reached through the dark locks to draw them out and over her shoulder.

Processed steps towards her now. Towards the bed. She wasn't done.

"Not resting?" Lucy asked, actively working to shift the situation back where it belonged. As if the sudden admission had never left her lips.