Time Warp: Look Outside Sometimes

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

June, 2015

When Lucy had came for a practically unexpected visit, it was exactly that. The Brit had nothing in store for her counterpart. How could she? Penny might have grown up partially in New York City, but she only ventured outside if necessary. There were only a handful of particularly chosen places she would go, most of which were hardly places Lucy Serrano would like to venture.

So she laid down with the Australian, arms wrapped around her form, legs tangled and without any of her family in their small home, Penny had no reason to move. There was little privacy when it came to her parents, and she couldn't be more thankful to have the Australian alone, and in her own room no less.

The tip of her nose crossed gently over Lucy's shoulder, her mouth pressing light kisses to reddened skin as if to at least recognize the damage she'd done, but refused to regret. When she finally reached her counterpart's lips, she kissed her.

"I love that you're here." She breathed against her.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Moments of privacy had proved difficult to achieve. Everyone wanted to learn everything there was about Lucy Serrano. She quickly devised that information gathered was in part being used to decipher why the couple remained in tact. Or perhaps it was more to do with how it was she herself caught the attention of a girl who barely looked at another person.

Either way, she was glad for a break. And she was even more grateful for where she had landed herself now.

Smaller, albeit hardly simple words caught the ink manipulator's ear, and she exhaled the easiest breath of a laugh at the fact. Penny rarely said she loved anything, and to hear it now proved just how far in a daze Lucy had pulled her from.

Still, she looked towards her. Carefully. Like it was necessary to take everything in, still.

"As far as places go, this ain't a bad one to be stuck at." On the contrary, especially when her earlier plans sprung to mind. It involved nothing. On her own. In her dorm room, or perhaps hers.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny wasn't often one to express her gratefulness for any situation outside of necessary politeness, but when it came to Lucy, she genuinely felt it to the point where she was entirely overwhelmed. It wasn't all that long ago she thought she'd have to wait days to see her love again. Yet the thought was so unbearable for not just herself, but Lucy as well. And here she was.

Fingers curled into those messy locks when she caught Lucy's gaze, and while she knew she hadn't been away from the ink manipulator for long, it was still too long. She had to insure every detail was still as she recalled it.

"It isn't." Penny agreed as she twisted in a correction in the same sentence. "The city isn't bad it's just-" She paused, nose crinkling as she tilted her head towards the wall at the opposite end of her room. On the other side, her parents' bedroom. Privacy wasn't exactly easy here.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy let the correction of her own words go. It could have been the simplest thing that would start a short argument between them, but she couldn't be bothered. She wanted to find herself as wrapped in the moment they shared as she could be, because catching time felt so futile in a house littered with family members.

"I know," She replied, refusing to let her gaze waver from her face long enough to look at where she was pointed towards. They were completely used to their own spaces; shared spaces, but no one was daring enough to say a thing about it. Parents in an equation changed it drastically. "But you're not exactly making it easy." She added with another short laugh. Surely, the markings across her skin were proof as to why this was so.

Not making it easy? On the ink manipulator, mostly. But those flighty wings at her waste were as likely to stop as she was. Surely blame would catch her, too.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

It hadn't taken much for Lucy to understand her point, and for it, Penny was thankful. It wouldn't have been proper to point out how paper thin the walls were in her tiny New York home, or how regardless of how hard she tried, there was no way the entire household hadn't heard her. It was a new challenge to face, but she was still here.

Her fingertips tracked up along the length of Lucy's arm, up and over her shoulder until she caught locks of messy strands that she twirled through her fingers. Her eyebrows shot up at the ink manipulator when accusation passed her lips. As if that ever worked out well for her.

"You drove all the way down here for me." Penny countered pointedly, but her tone kept something lighter to it. "What were you expecting?"

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Though Penny spoke with words Lucy had heard before, there was a newer lightness to it that proved the psychometrist wasn't offended by the accusations before her. She seemed to know them as fact, an idea that struck Lucy as well as the simpler notion of fingers practically playing with her hair. Penny was at peace in a newfound way, and she couldn't fight it even if she wanted to.

"This's exactly what I was expecting." She answered finally. Lucy had enough experience by now to know just how her counterpart reacted when time was placed with distance between them. She also knew how her love worked to handle instances with overwhelming, borderline romanticised actions by the ink manipulator. Wrapping them together in a single practical thought could only result in this.

Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to dwindle into the way it felt to be so adored. Loving hands that held and kept her in whatever way they chose to. She exhaled a lighter sigh, like she could really be free of any tension. Like she could be content. "This is totally not me complaining." She reassured her then, raising her eyebrows expectedly at the fact.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Were Penny one to easily laugh, she would have in that moment. Though for once, she hadn't gotten flustered, either. There had been no doubt in either of their minds how this visit would turn out, even if they had to work through separation between rooms. Best of all, she wasn't complaining, a fact that brought a grin to Penny's lips, as smug as she could wear such an expression.

"Good." And it was so much more than that. The word had grown in definition over time between them, never quite carrying the dull original meaning, even since its first use. Now was no exception as she kissed Lucy again.

Drawn out, by the time she broke away, Penny refused to let herself move far. All of New York City was outside, yet she hadn't the mental capacity to move any further from her bed. From her. Penny's arms wrapped more tightly around the ink manipulator to prove that fact, eyes drawing shut as she let out a long, relaxed breath.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

A single word was the most Lucy knew she was going to get from a conversation topic like this. It might have been short - it might not have sounded like much - but from Penelope Blaise that word meant something incredibly weighted. It was acceptance refined. She exhaled a short, breathy laugh at it's arrival.

And she very nearly kept her mouth shut completely after that. She had every intention of keeping such a moment as pure and glorious as it felt. Because where she found herself now after days of practical torment was too good to deny or ignore. She exhaled heavily again.

"We do have to go soon, though."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

In the silence, Penny had closed her eyes. For the Brit, there wasn't a single force that could move her from her bed and the arms of her counterpart. It was too easy to stay tangled up with the Australian, especially when nothing else called to her attention. There was no reason to shift away. Except, apparently, there was.

Eyes still shut, Penny raised her eyebrows, questioning Lucy silently. With a roll of her shoulders, she shifted, but not in a way that was implied just seconds ago. Instead she pulled herself in closer, allowing her lips to brush along the length of Lucy's jaw. She took as much time as she could bear to finally reach her ear.

"No we don't." She corrected easily. "They're not going to be back for hours." Hours that she had the ink manipulator in her grasp, a reminder she offered as her teeth sunk lightly into her earlobe.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Though Lucy couldn't catch her eyes, she knew she was about to be questioned in some way. A simple raise of her eyebrows was all it took for Lucy to already start building a good explanation, available with the shortest amount of talking. But she never got the chance to give anything; she opened her mouth and lost the air she was carrying as a body was suddenly as close as it possibly could be.

Denying her in any capacity was never an option. Primarily, that was because she herself never wanted to.

It was true that finding time to be as they were was difficult in a house full of people. Even nights weren't supposed to be an option until Penny broke that rule in the shortest amount of time available. But there was no one here. There was complete freedom to exist and respond without the constant knowledge of another person's presence to be wary of. The kind of response she couldn't help but give when pressure hit her earlobe seconds after reason was given.

"I've got a plan." She tried, then. That was the best she could come up with.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny heavily wished to point out that she, too, had a plan, but it wasn't the sort of thing the Brit was known to voice. Rather, she kept herself close with gentle pressure, nose crinkling at Lucy's claimed plan before she even had a chance to voice it. However, the Australian had successfully caught Penny's attention on the subject.

With another small shift, she was looking at Lucy again. The tip of her nose close enough to brush against hers if she wished, but instead she wore curiosity, coupled with minor annoyance at the thought of having to move. But if anyone knew that great things happened when Lucy planned something, it was Penny.

"What do you mean?" She prompted with a slight tilt of her chin, finally allowing for that connection to be made.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Regret managed to colour the way Lucy looked the second Penny eased up. She might have put such a motion in play, but she didn't have to like it. She couldn't look like she did like it. She very quickly missed the contact Penny gave. She missed the persistent nature that her counterpart always carried. She liked being adored in the most obvious way available. Though the distance between them was at a minimum, it was still distance. And she was still missed.

"The timing's perfect." She explained, like that sentence would actually make sense here. Like she - clever as she was - could decipher an answer from that. But she still exhaled almost harshly at the way her nose brushed against her own. It was like teasing in its own way. It was as if that small contact was set to remind her of what she had tried to deny.

"I wanna take you out." Lucy added, even if that wasn't often a thing they did.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

It wasn't a proper explanation, and Penny's eyebrows furrowed at the fact. She hadn't understood whatever it was Lucy was trying to convey, and although she tried to listen, her own patience was dwindling. Penny had yet to find a reason to leave the sheets she found herself tangled up in. More importantly, the person she was tangled up in.

She almost kissed, her, just to solidify the reminder of what she was trying to step away from, but words caught the air before Penny could catch her lips.

It was no unknown fact that Penny didn't enjoy going out. She did so when it was necessary, but if she could help it, she would stay within the comforts of her own home. Or in this case, room. "We can go out when my family is back." She tried to persuade instead, being about as forward as she possibly could be on any given day.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

It didn't take much to feel the distaste Penny carried for Lucy's idea. Surely it was enough to have her deter the thought completely, and she was so undeniably good at twisting the ink manipulator into saying yes to anything she needed. Though Lucy didn't like to give up, she notoriously liked giving in to her love. After all, she was where she was for a reason, and a marginal amount of that was the fact that she was so obviously needed.

She had such a perfect response, too. It was enough to practically have Lucy laughing at her own inability to take a really good stand here.

"Do you even know when that'll be?" Lucy asked her, fast to close her eyes despite the weight of the gaze against her. She knew impending overwhelming physicality was only a threat away.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

They seemed to draw away from the reason as to why Lucy was determined to leave, and Penny knew she was gaining an advantage with amused way her love responded. She allowed her palm to drag down the length of Lucy's form, nails lightly leaving a trail against her skin until they settled against her hip. They weren't going anywhere.

"I do not." Penny admitted, but she knew that, if anything, they would be gone for a significant amount of time. Time that should have been cherished rather than spent debating if they should use it going out instead.

When she lost Lucy's eyes, Penny tilted her head up so she could press a kiss to the Australian's pulse, and there she lingered against the curve of her neck. "But they'll be a while."