Cigarettes and Magazines

[Jude Walsh]

She listened to Lucy's words, her blue eyes searching for Lucy's brown. She saw the look, one she was guilty of sending Lucy's way on more than one occasion. It was a look she actually didn't dare make for so many reasons, one being that she didn't want to feel the loss on a larger scale if Lucy decided to go away again. Even now, it hurt whenever Lucy left. But the brunette was her best friend. It made sense that it hurt.

Jude looked away for a brief moment before nodding. "Yeah. I know." She sighed and reached out to grab Lucy's bowl to clean up. As the water ran over the bowls, Jude contemplated again on the pros and cons of opening up a store. She still wasn't entirely sure about it. Maybe she should consult with the others again.

[Lucy Serrano]

Lucy knew the danger even a simple look could carry. Much as she tried to avoid delving into the thought of any greater feelings, it proved impossible to ignore at the fleeting thought that she could be more accessible in the future. She could see the effect it had; the mutual understanding clouded by perfect silence until it was broken by understanding in a different form. By trying to remain unbiased, she forced the strain of a choice on her shoulders again.

Easing herself off the counter, Lucy crossed the short distance between them. The second she was close enough her hands were circling around her waist, dipping underneath the hem of the shirt she wore as she pressed herself against her back. She idly pressed her lips against her shoulder blade, intent on finding something comforting to say in a moment where she felt lost.

"Do whatever makes you happy, love." Lucy tried again, doing her best to reiterate where the importance settled in such a decision.

[Jude Walsh]

Jude almost dropped the bowl she was washing when she felt fingers trail across her skin.She shivered at the friction and leaned back a little when lips pressed against her back. Sighing, she turned her head a little to kiss the side of her friend's head.

She could have easily said the brunette was what made her happy anymore. It was the God honest truth. The farm was her job, she had nothing else but her. Jude knew better. She couldn't say anything that could jeopardise their current relationship.

Washing her hands off the soap suds, she turned fully in Lucy's arms before pushing her chin up with one finger. With a small smirk, the blonde pressed their lips together, circling her own hands around the smaller brunette. Hoisting her up on to the counter again, Jude let her fingernail rake against the front of the bandit's stomach, grazing against the underside of her chest.

[Lucy Serrano]

Again, Lucy found herself at the border of something dangerous. She knew the kind of reaction she easily could have gotten if a moment felt too far pushed. But the words were far too perfect not to give; the action, the anticipation and the overarching physicality too important to ignore. She wasn't sure how to let go now that she was back where she was.

Running away from farm life? It had all been so seemingly easy for Lucy. The truth was far more strained, and there were few reasons for the ill feeling.

Lucy eased the pressure off to allow a movement, feeling the shift of the form beneath her hands. She kept that skin to skin contact, unable to stop the way she smiled into the kiss that caught her so willingly. Fingernails instantly practically clung to the bare skin beneath them as soon as she was lifted. Lithe as she was - and as she had called her out for - it was an easy move to make. A shallow breath dusted across her lips at the way familiar nails dragged down the length of her form with defined purpose. Legs interlocked around her waist, if only to ensure she wouldn't consider moving away now that she had felt so forward.

[Jude Walsh]

There was no need for the brunette to physically keep Jude away from her. There really was little that could in the first place. Every time the dark haired woman rolled into the farmlands, Jude lost herself in her. Work was practically tossed aside, nothing else mattered except for the woman sitting on the counter.

It was such a familiar feeling, having Lucy wrapped in her arms this way. Though the implication of their relationship was always pushing the boundary of friendship, Jude knew it was right and Lucy knew there was nothing to push. They didn't need labels. They didn't need words to define what they had. They loved each other, they loved the company of the other, they loved having sex together. What else was there to it?

But she couldn't deny the fact that having Lucy to come home to wasn't appealing. She wanted easy access to the woman, and not have to wait for months or weeks to see her crawling through her window.

Rather that than nothing, Jude reasoned with herself as her lips moved down to the brunette's neck, pulling away the one button holding the other's modesty. She let her lips crawl achingly slowly downwards.

(OOC: ftb ^-^)

[Lucy Serrano]

Despite the reason for her initial visit, Lucy had to be thankful for the way she found herself distracted, too. Idle thoughts were proving to be far more pressing the longer she lingered in the familiar settlement with the painfully famliliar woman she lost herself to so willingly. It was so difficult to remember why she left in the first place; she couldn't possibly feel restless here.

Instead, she finally found the strength to drag herself off the surface again, easing into the space between Jude and the countertop she was trying to leave behind. It was almost unfair to feel so breathless, a trait she deserved to feel smug about. She curled her fingers into the hemline of her shirt, tugging at the fabric idly.

"How would you feel if I stayed for longer?" She asked, almost tentatively as her eyes searched for an answer before words could be given.

[Jude Walsh]

She was already ridiculously breathless even before the words came out of the other woman's mouth. Once they did, Jude's heart seemed to stop beating altogether.

Pulling away slightly, Jude looked at Lucy curiously, her eyebrow furrowing into the middle.

"Lu...what..." she blinked as she thought of the ramifications of saying yes. Lucy was a wanderer, she couldn't really be thinking of settling, would she? "How long?"

[Lucy Serrano]

The question Lucy posed sounded so easy before she had to factor another person's response into it. Dark eyes searched the confused expression Jude was wearing now, and a small part of became genuinely worried for what she had started.

"I was gonna leave tomorrow." She admitted, and she knew how difficult that would have been. "You've probably got work to do, and I mean, so do I, but-"

Honestly, she didn't really care for the land Jude was working to maintain. She knew it carried a tiring effort that her presence could draw away simply if she stayed for too long. "Another night's not gonna effect much, right?" She asked, eyebrows raised in her own curiosity.

[Jude Walsh]

Another night with her best friend. How could she say no to that? It made her feel a little desperate but really, that was what she was. The day after Lucy was set to leave always felt just that much more depressing. But maybe...maybe one more night could alleviate that sadness. What a logical conclusion to get to.

"Who the fuck cares about work?" She chuckled, releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding before both her hands cupped the brunette's cheeks and pulled her close to place a warm, urgent kiss on her lips.

[Lucy Serrano]

Though their lines of work differed incredibly, there was still that obvious sense of drive for the things they did. It was never easy to find the time to just get away from it all. For Lucy, every second off the proverbial grid was like hemorrhaging profit, but every moment was deemed worth it when company was of this quality.

Still, she had to laugh at the idea of not caring. Truth be told, it had been the furthest from her mind the second she started tracking back towards the familiar farmlands.

"You know you do." Lucy finally replied, her lips brushing against hers with each syllable offered. It wasn't even easy to draw away to make a point. Not when she was still so close, "You love it here. You love everything you do."

[Jude Walsh]

Chuckling gutturally at being called out on her bullshit, Jude shook her head just slightly, pressing her lips briefly against the brunette's, her bright blue eyes searching the other woman's dark ones.

"Doesn't change the fact that I'd rather be with you, Lu." She slid her hand back on to the other woman's stomach, tenderly stroking it as her other hand carelessly pulled down the shirt off the brunette's shoulder, moving her head down to press her lips against the bare skin. She nipped it lightly. "I can afford a day off. Or two. Just need to get you out of my system." She teased.

[Lucy Serrano]

Lucy almost lost the need to joke around with her friend when she kissed her again. It was hard to keep a verbal course when she could get so lost in something so simple. But she also felt the way her ego was bolstered by taking point in Jude's life, at least for the next few nights. Lucy didn't fight the way the fabric fell from her shoulder, nor would she argue with the lips that brushed against her shoulder. The sentiment she offered practically burned into the exposed nature of her skin.

"I'm not gonna wake up tomorrow alone and find you out in the fields?" Lucy asked, incredibly used to waking up alone. While it was no secret that she herself fell asleep later and woke up later accordingly, it was suddenly a bit of a daunting thought, "You might get bored waiting for me to wake up. A little notice and I might be able to handle it."

[Jude Walsh]

Even she had to admit the best thing about having her best friend around was to wake up to the brunette buried deep in the covers while just her dark hair peeked out haphazardly over the pillow. So no, she would definitely not be out on the field while the other woman was sleeping. All she had to do was radio in her absence to one of the shift leaders.

For the three years she had started working solo on the farm, she had not once taken a sick day. She still remembered someone had started a silly rumor that Jude had been taken over by a robot. They wouldn't have been that far from the truth had it not been for the many nights the blonde spent cooped up in her room crying herself to sleep.

"I could think of many ways to wake you up." Her fingers started sliding further down Lucy's body to emphasise on her point.

[Lucy Serrano]

Lucy knew what a workaholic looked like. She knew when she stared into those lighter eyes she was face to face with the very kind. After all, when so little seemed to be left, something to work towards was so often required. Still, Lucy was keen to steal the idea that Jude could afford another day. What was the point in arguing about it?

"So generous." Lucy denoted, eyebrows raising slightly at the lower trajectory of a hand. With a shift of her own and she curled her fingers around her wrist, enough to slow the movement despite how the rest of her practically called for it in turn. Her free hand pressed against her waist, equal footing now working to coax her back to the room she had first forced them to leave.

Lucy wondered if they could go a whole trip without talking about the underlying reason for her visit. But as she found those leading steps, she reminded herself it wasn't her situation to voice. It wasn't hers to bring up. If anything, it was hers to keep at bay.

"It's not like you'd get away, anyway. I'm pretty sure I'll still be clinging to you in my sleep." That was, if defined sleep was even part of the equation. She always had her doubts.

[Jude Walsh]

"I am a very giving person." She smirked at the brunette, pouting ever so slightly when her hand was denied the direction they had been heading in. She then followed the other woman when she pulled them away from the kitchen.

Lucy's promise made Jude smirk once more as she pulled even more of her shirt away from the darker haired woman. At that moment, all she wanted was one thing. And that was to have this woman writhing under her on every surface of her home. And on occasion on top of her. But she knew once she was left to her own devices, things were going to get back to her and she would be left crying in the corner of her house, thinking about the family she had to lose.

"I'll keep you to that."