Referendum

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

By seven in the morning, Penelope was already awake. Though with summer vacation and a wife that often slept in, to see her up and out of bed at the time was becoming more and more of a rarity. However, falling asleep early meant she woke up to news. Dreadful news. It pulled the psychometrist out of bed and to turn on the television.

And there it was. By such a close percentage, too.

Penny didn't know how long she sat in the kitchen, but untouched tea had gone cold as it sat in front of her, fingertips barely brushing against the brim as she stared forward. Only the eventual entrance of her love had drew her attention, but her smile felt weakened.

"Good morning."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Unsurprisingly, Lucy knew very little about politics. She barely understood the politics of her own country; this year was the first where she was forced to vote, because she was finally old enough to do so. She didn't kn ow much about the goings on in her own country of origin, and she never really cared to learn. She knew more about the situation in her current country and that was primarily due to the fact that her counterpart put in the effort to know so much where Lucy knew so little.

She sort of understood that things in her love's country of birth were on edge, but she couldn't totally wrap her head about it. She doubted she ever would. Perhaps she had figured that out, too.

There was nothing about the morning that meant anything to her, except for the new fact that she woke up alone. It rarely happened, and when she reached a more conscious state she recalled that there was nothing that would pull her from the bed they shared. There was no reason today, yet she was gone, and it meant Lucy had to understandably go looking for her. Once she procured the easiest shirt to cover herself with, she fumbled through buttons and collided them incorrectly. Her first point of call was to check the kitchen, because it was the space she harboured so well, and the instinct didn't fail her.

"Hey," She offered lightly, carefully despite how odd it could have sounded. She smiled she got back in tandem with the response offered was irksome in a troubling way, but she did her best to mask it by lowering her head to drag a hand through her hair and draw it to one side.

The second she was close enough, Lucy reached out with a single hand, brushing fingertips against the small of her back lightly. Testing proverbial waters, she wore a small smile as she chose not to contemplate how to speak; "You left."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

It was always a relief to see her counterpart - her wife. When the ink manipulator approached her, she sat up a little straighter, exhaling lightly as she felt the familiar brush of fingertips against her back. That smile had become a little more warmer at the contact.

Instinctively, she abandoned the cup of tea completely in favor of reaching out for the Australian. Her palm skimmed along the length of Lucy's leg, fingers hooking around to pull her a little closer. Still tired, Penny felt the undeniable need to be closer to her counterpart the moment she saw her again. Her head pressed against her hip lightly, eyes drawing shut.

Regret for the decision to leave instantly wore on the psychometrist. There was so much more comfort in proximity than being alone. "Sorry." She apologized softly. "I was restless."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

As she was drawn inward, Lucy complied to the obvious need without fail. Distance wasn't an option when she herself was dragged through it, and so she stood as closely as she possibly could.

But it was an odd kind of connection. It was almost needy in its own light, and it confused her quickly. She raised both hands, hooking one around her head lightly. And fingers were slow to drag through her hair instinctively. It might have seemed nice, but it worked wonders to add a level of stress to to a newly awakened mind.

“That's okay.” She replied honestly. Because it was. And she was grateful for the softest apology handed to her.

“You coulda woken me.”

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny was oblivious to her own stance and how it could have put concern in her eyes. Her own was drawn shut, a small hum passing the psychometrist's lips as she felt the comfort of fingers running through her hair. She had to wonder why she left the ink manipulator and their bed in the first place. It was hard to find the logic in her act.

Especially when Lucy spoke like that. Only then did Penny go through the effort of shifting. She drew her head back just enough to look up at the Australian, eyebrows raising slowly like she had something to say, but there wasn't an excuse for her behavior.

"The referendum to leave the EU passed." She explained instead. "The UK is separating."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

When a partial disconnect was requested, Lucy gave it. She shifted her hand enough to let her own gaze be caught, and when it had, she quickly found how difficult a situation this was drawn to be. There was nothing overly defined about those eyes, but at least they weren't looking right through her.

The words that passed her counterpart's lips were the kind that were supposed to feel almost panicked. Really, they did. It was evidently the core of why she had left Lucy in the first place. It was the reason tea sat before her untouched and cooling with every passing moment. She didn't let her attention move from anywhere but the individual trying to speak to her, however strained it was for her to try.

Lucy was usually good with words. For the most part. She often knew what to say when she landed herself in any kind of trouble with this girl. But she didn't have much; the twitch of her eyebrows threatened something like confusion before she managed to clear it away. It almost wasn't fair when she didn't know how to answer without sounding like... Herself.

"Don't get mad, love," She started gently. Delicately, and with the appropriate name attached; "But I don't totally know what that means."

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Penny had to wonder if it would have been better to carry the same oblivious nature her counterpart had. She was never particularly invested in politics - so much that the Brit more often knew news about the Australian's country of origin before Lucy had.

And were that the case, perhaps she would have not cared so much about this. Perhaps it wouldn't have dragged her out of bed to sit and alone in a kitchen refusing to reach for the very tea that was supposed to comfort her.

"The European Union consists of several countries that are all within agreement with one another and united. It's good for trade and travel." And more, but she doubted she could get so detailed without losing her love's attention. "The UK no longer wants to be part of it."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

In theory, Lucy knew this explanation meant little to their current situation. Penny might have harboured a known love for the country of her origin, but the political effect barely weighted to their shoulders. Still, she tried her best to piece together the necessity here.

"Okay." She stated finally, like enough seconds in silence had passed for her to finally understand. Or at least, she hoped to make the appropriate connection. Now likely wasn't the time to make a single quip about the natural holier-than-thou status that often hung above the Australian's head.

Though potentially difficult, Lucy worked to ease herself out of the hold she was in. She let go with her own hands, reaching for the closest chair and swinging it out, dragging it closer. She had to shift out of the hands that held her in order to take it, but once she sat, she reached for something completely different. Fingers curled around the cup she made and subsequently abandoned. Luke-warm. Likely something she wouldn't drink. Lucy slid it across the table to make it her own instead.

"So, things over there are a bit crazy right now." She started again. Clearly, this was more than just a shock reaction over one incident.

[Penelope Serrano-Blaise]

Briefly, Penny fought the disconnect. Her lips pursed and hands tightened, but another second, and she let the Australian slip away, if only because she knew that Lucy often moved with purpose in these moments. She was perfect with her direction, as usual. Dark eyes followed the ink manipulator to her chair, fingertips reaching out when she thought they'd be met halfway, but instead Penny watched the way her counterpart took the tea she had abandoned.

She still reached forward, pressing a palm to her knee lightly. When she looked up at the Australian again, she offered a twitch of a smile, because at the very least, Lucy's company was that to be cherished. She truly did make a moment better.

Penny nodded, but she didn't look as if she were at ease at all. Her jaw was still tense. "It's more than just right now, though." She tried to explain. "This is going to have an impact on the entire British economy."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Now in her own seat, Lucy had better means to watch her counterpart. Penny was a stoic creature by nature, much like the dragon often associated with her in everything Lucy seemed to do. There was one that roamed the walls of this temporary home of theirs for a reason. It was like a spirit; unsettled when she was too, if that were possible.

As Lucy listened, she glanced at the cup she'd taken custody of. She drank from it slowly. She didn't really like tea in the first place, let alone when it was warm. But she was trying. It was perhaps the perfect example of that attempt.

"Why're you worried?" Lucy asked her instead. Here they were in their home situated well away from the crisis. Evidently it would have some overflow effect, but this looked like it hurt her love more than most things could. It was hard to get under the psychometrist's skin, and no one knew that better than the one who married her.