Post by Penelope Blaise on Oct 27, 2015 0:33:11 GMT
The conversation took a sharp turn, but it was Penelope herself who had caused it. Still, she felt strained with the weight of a single moment. She wondered if Lucy had taken into consideration that she might not have returned until that very moment; if she had, the mere fact that she still went through the effort to make this place safer was now heavier than ever.
With a closing distance between them, she held her breath, unaware she even was as the Australian accented woman drew closer. Strange as it was to admit, her pulse ran faster to an unfamiliar rhythm - one that wasn't fear or anger. Nervous. Penelope was actually nervous.
"I have little intention of leaving." She admitted as coolly as she could manage. "You'll know where to find me."
There was something heavy in the admission Lucy had been given. Not simply that this was where she would always reside, but that it was the very place Lucy would always be able to find her. She almost laughed at the idea, but she held her scepticism low key.
"Yeah, but that's the thing." She started, shaking her head to her own thoughts, "You don't get to make that choice. Not ever."
Because even a wayward step could result in total loss. She had no idea how deep such a concept ran within the person she barley knew; she herself could only attest to the danger from what she'd seen. What she in turn had inflicted in moments passed.
"So your place is safer now." She conceded, raising a hand and pressing it against her shoulder for a spare set of seconds. Brief contact lingered for a decent moment before she continued her stride past her and towards the window she favoured.
Post by Penelope Blaise on Oct 27, 2015 0:59:20 GMT
Of course, there were to be exceptions. From her own experience, Penelope knew how easily a person could be lost entirely. One day they were there. Existing. Smiling. Another, suddenly gone. It wasn't something her mind lingered on easily or willingly. Her lips pursed into a thin, hardened line as she didn't argue. Her original point still remained, refusing to make the amendment she really didn't feel the need to voice; unless I'm dead, infected, or somehow forced out of here.
Contact to her shoulder had been unexpected, but almost welcome. She hadn't tensed as she might have with another person, nor did she move into a defensive stance as she had the days prior. Instead Penelope stood there, a slight nod of acknowledgment. She already thanked Lucy once, it wasn't going to pass her lips a second time around.
However, the contact felt fleeting, because as long as she might have lingered, the next moment she was gone. Turning, Penelope took steps to follow, a hand reaching out to grab her wrist. "Don't leave."
Contact came to her wrist, and rather than freezing Lucy forced herself to a halt. The initial point she had set between them stirred an odd enough sense of caring, so she felt quick to rid herself of the concept. Just as she had the last time they met, when she had forced a kiss against her lips. Twice.
She glanced over her shoulder before she turned, firstly to the new point between them before she travelled the length of her arm and back to her face. She felt surprise capture her usually misguided features; she didn't want to give anything to a situation like this.
"Why?" She asked eventually, forcing herself out of any kind of daze. "You'll be fine."
Post by Penelope Blaise on Oct 27, 2015 1:29:40 GMT
Part of Penelope was surprised that Lucy had stopped at all. She seemed to come and go as she wished, on her terms rather than come to any sort of agreement. It was frustrating beyond belief, but did everything to keep her curious about this woman she found a strange interest in. The corner of her mouth dragged downward at the question. Of course she'd be fine. Penelope had been fine before this fell into her life, and now she was safely boarded up.
"I'm not afraid." She pointed out, voice taking on a sterner tone. It was a natural instinct to take on the defensive. Nobody had stated she couldn't take care of herself, but it felt as if it was implied.
"You're here for hours and the moment I come back, you're suddenly running away? I assumed someone like you were braver than that."
With a hold still at her wrist, Lucy felt no urge to move away. She took a breath and considered why it was she tried to leave in the first place. It had been a knee-jerk reaction for a time when things got a little too heavy. The protocol was to move.
But the words given to her forced a new reason for her pulse to sky-rocket. Suddenly, she felt the surge of blood boiling for an entirely new reason.
"I'm not running." Lucy retorted, and it suddenly sounded a lot harsher than she meant it to. The words themselves passed her lips with a sense of haste, too. She was far too quick to fight over that. "I don't have anywhere to go."
Post by Penelope Blaise on Oct 27, 2015 2:10:27 GMT
It was a borderline cheap shot. No doubt a person's reputation and ego could be threatened with the call, as if Penelope would bother trying to spread the word. Instead, it kept the theif from moving, with the help of a loose grip around her wrist. It could easily be overpowered but that was hardly the point.
And honestly, it looked like running.
"Then why don't you stay?" She asked boldly instead. The request made her mouth dry and chest tight, but she stood as tall as her small frame would allow her nonetheless.
Her hand dropped, letting go of the wrist it had weakly held captive to fall at her side instead.
Lucy felt struck, like perhaps she had pushed too far by showing such an open stint of kindness. Now more than ever she wanted to disappear, and she knew she could have. She was one of the best at it.
When she thought to respond with whatever popped into her head, but again she found herself running dry. Reason never seemed to sit well when it came to do with anything about the woman who lived in the abandoned library. Jaw dropped in the same moment where she lost that point of contact; it was then a strange thing to suddenly miss so intently.
"Why do you want me to?" Lucy asked, caught by her own genuine confusion.
Post by Penelope Blaise on Oct 27, 2015 9:40:18 GMT
To have a question thrown in her direction rather than an answer was nothing short of annoying. It brought them nowhere closer to an answer and in turn put her on the spot rather than the person she asked. At least now, she hadn't made an attempt to leave despite the lack of a hand physically preventing her from doing so.
The loss in connection made her palm burn, and she squeezed it shut to try and ease away some of the irritation with little effect. The question made her uncomfortable, because her mind couldn't draw to an answer. For someone who lived in a library, surrounded by practically every answer available, it was incredibly irksome.
"I just do." Penelope pressed her lips together tightly. It was barely a valid response, if one at all. "There's no need to leave at the first sign of my existence."
Though nothing held her, Lucy made no moves to edge towards her favoured window. Instead, her attention was completely drawn to the woman who wanted to keep her there. With a small turn of her body, she worked to face her properly instead. Anything to get better insight into the situation.
"Fine." She fought, but it seemed senseless a to carry tension to a situation that didn't need it. Because she had just agreed to it.
And then another thought caught her, because it was notoriously difficult to pin the thief down, and if she hadn't figured that out already she would in due time. "For how long?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion; "I can keep an eye out if you need to get some decent sleep." Because there was nothing more comforting than that kind of stability.
Post by Penelope Blaise on Oct 27, 2015 11:30:28 GMT
Penelope should have found relief when her request was accepted, yet it didn't settle well in her stomach. Twisted thoughts made it just a little hard to breath, because it sounded as if she were forcing the woman to stay. As she were only doing it to stop the annoyance Penelope had caused or she felt it was easier to deal with matters this way.
The belief only grew when she asked for how long she was to stay, and more when she assumed she was being used as some tool for means of safety. Penelope had been in the library long enough to get a decent night of sleep in there, or rather, as decent as possible given the circumstances.
Her jaw clenched in a shot of frustration, expression hardening as she crossed her arms. "I'm not looking for protection." She stated sternly. "If you think I'm looking for a free ride of sorts, you're heavily mistaken."
Kindness was not a trait ever really tacked onto Lucy Serrano. She was a thief with the lowest of standards. She killed people at the wire and she absolutely ripped people off at any given moment. She liked to win; she was selfish and stubborn and carried the overt desire to be right when it came to just about anything she fought for. She didn't extent courtesy's by any means unless there was a reason for it. Unless she was to get something in return. Or she happened to care for the person she was dealing with.
Those were best at arms length. It was why it was so perfect that Jude stuck herself on a farm. It was why it was sweet to visit, and just as sweet to catch her when she was in the city at the usual market stall. All small points, but she wasn't easily attainable. It was easier that way.
"God, chill out for a bloody second, would you?" Lucy retorted, "Would you listen to yourself? How're you gonna accuse me of accusing you of something?" And that distance was something she was fast to breach; clever enough steps dragged her right in front of her with barely anything to spare, "Are you mad cause I helped you out? Is that what this is?"
Post by Penelope Blaise on Oct 27, 2015 12:05:43 GMT
Confused anger fueled Penelope as she straightened her back. Muscles tensed along her limbs as she tried to hold her ground. The proximity between them was breached; Lucy made it look borderline easy to get so closer. With the series of questions thrown at her, she didn't know where to start. Or what to answer, if she had been expected to answer any of them at all. And why did she have to get so close? Backing away simply wasn't an option for the British-born, it could have been seen as weak. As giving in.
"I'm not mad because you helped. I'm mad because I don't understand why." Penelope fired back, hands tightening around her own arms. To be safe. That she should be safe. People weren't concerned about other's safety around here. Not for someone they first met.
Caring or helping was what got people killed, even for a member of the Furrina. The thief seemed clever; or at least clever enough to know how to survive in the city, and clever enough to know how to board up a building securely. So why was she doing this now? It was dangerous. Practically stupid. "I don't know why I want you to stay, but it's not so I can sleep."
The air in her lungs practically burned like breathing ash in such proximity. Lucy's own mentality was easily muddled by how close she stood in tandem with the proverbial shots fired at her. She took the accusations to heart, like it was less about the state of the world and more about herself. Like there was no way she herself could ever be responsible for being helpful. For remotely caring.
And she hated feeling so misled. This conversation was suddenly so misleading.
"There're a few things I'm great at-" Lucy started, but she wasn't quite sure how to finish the argument. She could list her skills by way of work, but most were already proven. She could fortify and for the most part acquire difficulties. She could break into just about anywhere. She could do a lot in a few hours.
And as she took that final step between them, she wrapped an arm around her waist; drawing herself through the distance with minimal momentum to close her eyes and kiss her.
Post by Penelope Blaise on Oct 27, 2015 16:06:10 GMT
With sudden, unexpected pressure against her lips, Penelope was thrown entirely off guard. It wasn't the first time, or even the second, but she couldn't say she had expected it again. With an arm secured around her waist, she hadn't the ability to pull herself away, and she didn't wish to, either. Her own arms uncrossed, fingers curling lightly around the thief's arms, following a slow trail until she found her shoulders. There, she pulled herself closer.
Because reciprocation shouldn't have come so easily, but it had. Penelope gripped at the collar of Lucy's shirt, keeping her in place just as well as the arm around her waist did.
When she could no longer stand the painful ache of her lungs, she allowed an inch of distance. Just enough to take a sharp, desperate breath as she opened her eyes, staring at the woman with the Australian accent. She almost thought to slap her again, but a greater impact came when she crossed the distance to kiss her again.