Sentient

[Lucy Serrano]

Lucy saw her leave that morning. Though she hadn't really been awake and alert, she had still been conscious enough to watch her girlfriend walk out the bedroom door that morning. She had been expert enough to force her to linger in proximity that threatened to make her late.

Well, not late. She always went to work far earlier than she needed to. She probably made it perfectly on time by everyone else's standards.

It was the tail end of her allocated lunch break, and Lucy knew exactly where she would be. She made her way to the usual classroom, a few idle specks of paint clouding the prior perfect nature of her skin tight jeans. At some point amidst her morning, she had thought to wipe excess paint from her hands to the front of her plaid printed shirt, despite how capable she was at ridding herself of the substance all together. And her hair was up, though not entirely out of her eyes, as per usual. But as she wandered those repeatedly familiar halls, she could see clear enough.

She herself was late. Later than she should have been. But she still had a little time. She was even careful to knock on the door and wait behind it until she came to open it for her.

[Penelope Blaise]

Slipping away was growing harder and harder in mornings now that she woke up to every one of them next to someone that knew how to make her stay. She was never late according to official records, but to the personal schedule she'd been working for years? Absolutely.

It meant her lunch break was busy, and when her counterpart hadn't shown, she could only assume that she, too, was preoccupied. It gave her the opportunity to catch up; there was always work to be done one way or another, and Penny found herself having less time to do it in her new home. When familiar hands could reach out so easily to her, or she knew she was right down the hall.

Penny was surprised to hear a knock; students were never one to visit, despite how this period was within her open office hours. So she walked to the door, pulling it open. It shouldn't have surprised her that there wasn't a student on the other side, and it didn't. Not entirely. What was surprising was just how she looked.

Paint splattered clothes and unruly hair tied up, Penny immediately found herself staring as she sucked in a breath. Before she could even make it to those dark eyes. "Hello."

[Lucy Serrano]

Staring. Lucy was used to that, especially when adoring in nature.

Not just adoring. Adoring was too simple for the stare provided. There was a sense of longing to the eyes she couldn't catch.

No, more than that too. Her attention was a prize deeply sought. It was one the egomaniac craved more than anything from anyone else now. So reaching out, she rested her curled index finger beneath her chin, applying light pressure to ease her attention.

"I'm up here." She offered lightly, amusement coursing through the simple words in tandem with the slightly smug grin she had no control over; "Hey."

[Penelope Blaise]

Light pressure under Penny's chin forced her head up. Her eyes up, though it was impossible not to catch a glance at her lips as she grinned so smugly. She knew just how hard it was for the English teacher not to look; likely, it provided a boost to an already inflated ego. Penny let out a short breath, the corner of her own mouth twitching upward in the slightest.

It was best to try and ignore the heat she felt rise in her cheeks. "I didn't know you were coming." Though that was hardly a bad thing. At the very least, the artist made it before her break was over. She'd been known to make an appearance mid class before.

Penny lifted her hand, fingers curling into Lucy's palm just under her own chin, and with a light squeeze she pulled it away, if only to direct the Australian into her classroom. "It looks as if you've been busy."

[Lucy Serrano]

A careful play against the surprise given to her had Lucy's grin holding its strength. She liked to surprise her. More to the point, she liked visiting her in the first place, but adding that to the situation made it just that little bit more intoxicating.

She felt a held move around her own, and with no resistance she followed the curve as it was given. She then took slow steps through the doorway, as directed.

"I've been working." She announced, as if her clothes didn't do that for her already. But it seemed fitting, as did the way she idly reached for the open door to push it to a close, "I lost track of time. Rushed over to catch you while you had a spare second."

[Penelope Blaise]

As she stepped through the door, Penny reached around to close it. Though there were never students prying by her door during lunch hours, she wouldn't risk the chance. Her class adored the artist, and while she had so little time remaining with her before she would have a few dozen students filing in, those few moments were precious.

The moment her hands were free, she was reaching back for the artist, paint covered clothes and all. It seemed obvious that she had been working, and for it she let out a small, amused breath. Were there was thoughts that the English teacher never cracked a smile, it was broken within seconds of her presence.

Her palm circled around the Australian's shoulder, fingertips barely grazing the line of her uncovered neck. "Rushed?" She asked, a light hum passing her lips.

[Lucy Serrano]

With hands back to her form and a door closed, Lucy felt quick relief and allowed the concept to further bolster her already soaring ego. This might have been a new side to her counterpart. That or an elevated one. Already, she felt wanted. Already she could feel a difference and she could see the way it had she herself reacting.

Hands held her waist, pivotal as they moved her to swap, so that it was her back to the door as Lucy gave pressure and chase.

"Yeah. Can't you tell?" She asked, raising her eyebrows once, "So short of breath."

Rushed as she had been to make it there in the first place, she had still taken her time. She was perfectly fine, but the air still felt thin. It always did in company like this.

[Penelope Blaise]

Penny was unaware of just how overtly attentive she was being. The Australian always made her hard of breath, even by just standing there. It felt natural to move towards her. To touch her whenever she was granted the chance. And for someone who was so known for her controlling behavior, she allowed herself to be moved so easily.

With the question, Penny instinctively glanced down to her mouth, thought it had little to do with seeing how short of breath her counterpart might have been.

Her fingertips trailed up to the line of her tied up hair, barely breaking through into the dark locks as she leaned in a little closer. "How does someone who can control paint manage to get it all over herself?" She asked next.

[Lucy Serrano]

The barest, shortest glance at her lips had Lucy's growing in their nature. She flashed teeth with the natural way her lips parted at the weaker side of her counterpart. There was no great humour to be found in the inability to withstand a person after such a short time. It did wonders for her ego, but then, what remote sense of higher placement didn't?

A slight lean and fingertips in the line of her hair had her leaning in a fraction, too. She had no idea she might be being beckoned; that control mightn't be in her own corner as her body pressed against another which pressed against a closed door.

"Art is all about emersion." She replied swiftly. Cleverly, and on a weaker breath. Like the words were second nature, and they were on a greater level. "It's like... A literal approach."

"You won't get a speck on you, I swear."

[Penelope Blaise]

It was easy to use the door to her advantage; leverage to press herself closer to the artist that had her attention so thoroughly. Lucy was grinning so widely Penny thought to put her down on some level in an attempt to even out that ego, but that grin was far too wonderful - and she likely knew that. So her palms dropped instead, pressing between Lucy's shoulder blades.

"I'm not concerned about it." Penny pointed out, though in honesty, she would likely grow to be concerned if any was left on her form before her class started. But it wasn't why she asked, and the prior answer she received was remarkable.

She allowed the tip of her nose to just barely brush her counterpart's, if only in another attempt to beckon her in.

[Lucy Serrano]

Briefly, Lucy considered what a slight transfer of paint would do for the rest of her counterpart's day. She would love to witness the way she tried to explain herself. How a few little prints on the front of her dress would draw the kind of attention that would make her cheeks flair. And Lucy would miss it all. So where was the interest in that?

Leaning in again, Lucy could practically register every breath she took. Hands that had once pressed to her sides were willing to move, painfully slowly down the length of her form.

But she wouldn't kiss her. Not as she lingered so closely to the brush of her nose past hers. Not even as her own exhale wavered in such close proximity. It would be so simple, so easy and so deserved. There was no denying that it was the imperative connection she wanted after hours of having nothing.

"I've been thinking about you all day." She admitted, incredibly willing to start a new conversation with her as her hands were still moving, slow as they still were.

[Penelope Blaise]

Still denied, and Penny felt the way her own lips twitched. They threatened something on the lines of a pout, but she was too stubborn to cross that remaining distance herself. Penny had been caught staring. Called out for it even. She desperately wanted to be chased through that little space left between them.

But she was acutely aware of the hands that moved across her form. More, how slowly they did so. It put a knot in her stomach as her chest tightened, a small, wavering breath passing across her lips. It only grew harder when Lucy spoke again.

"I missed you." Penny replied on a light breath considering the weighted words.

[Lucy Serrano]

Wavering breaths only made a situation that much worse. It made control difficult to achieve despite how desperate Lucy always seemed to maintain a hold of it. She knew she dealt with extraordinary circumstances on a daily basis, and she knew she signed up for that when she willingly folded Penelope Blaise into her life. It was like she didn't care for consequences.

"I missed you." Lucy declared in return. Like it was so easy. Second nature to the woman who shared her space. Shared her life.

Hands felt clever against the hem of the skirt she wore, driving down to find the line and barely brush against her skin. There wasn't much point in stalling there for long. She didn't bother to overly linger.

"I couldn't wait." She reasoned then, hands finally breaching the line to brush upwards against newly exposed skin. And she was signing off on her own actions like it made all the sense in the world to interrupt a person's work day on such a whim. Like every person in the world should adhere to the higher notion of a feeling over the prior obligations set in place.

[Penelope Blaise]

Penny could barely keep up with what felt like a basic, natural conversation. It was easy to point out how she missed the Australian, but speaking in any form grew harder with the way her hands were moving. Her own tightened against the artist's back, nails threatening the material that covered her, as frustrated as she was with its existence. It hadn't taken long for her to reach back up and find the collar of her shirt to bypass the fabric entirely.

She lost hope to catch her lips, head tilting backwards instead as the back of it hit the door. As much as she wanted to kiss Lucy, she doubted she had the breath to be able to do so. With a loss of eye contact from her own movements, she closed her eyes.

There was so much more she wanted to say. Every endearing response passed through her mind, but even with parted lips, she hadn't managed to offer a reply.

[Lucy Serrano]

Being slow was a tedious task. Really, it did no one any favours. It helped no one. It aided nothing. But such a slow burn did everything to remind Lucy of all the hours in her day so far she had spent on her own. Being engulfed in a studio space on her own only let her mind wander further, and there were a great many things she couldn't live without.

The tilt of her head gave the greater curve of for Lucy to press her lips against. A smaller point where she could find the rapid nature of a pulse that would surely be matched by the twin set of wings that existed on her own skin. But she didn't have a chance to catch them.

But she would. Later.

The second Lucy felt those hands truly threaten to tighten on her form out of a complete lack of control, she couldn't help the harsher way she exhaled. Nor could she seem to help the three little words she burned into her skin against her ear for the first time on that very same breath.