Going Nowhere

[Penelope Blaise]

The fortunate part of working in a senate full of liars and borderline criminals was that Penny knew the signs of avoidance. She couldn't get caught up the question she posed in return rather than answering her own. She even refused to squeeze the hand that held her own. A tired expression still was made up of steel when she stared back at the thief.

"Tell me." She replied instead, determined to hear it out. For the moment, it didn't matter if it was deemed important or not.

[Lucy Serrano]

At the second failed attempt at a longstanding connection, Lucy felt spirits dwindle. The worst thing about it was what threatened to replace it. For all this, she was being scolded over something that shouldn't have mattered. It had always been an unspoken concept that they couldn't and wouldn't be labelled, wasn't it?

She let her hand go, settling it down against the sheets before she severed the connection. Though she still leaned over the senator and wasn't willing to change that just yet, she dragged her fingers through her hair instinctively. Something to do.

"Seeing each other. Is that what we're doing?" Lucy asked her instead, again derailing the question posed to her for one of her own. It was growing to be a common occurrence between them, and someone surely needed to break it. She doubted the senator would ever give her a decent answer when she was asking for so much information first, "Because if you're asking me if I've fucked anyone else in the last week, or month, or entirety of this thing, I haven't."

Even then, it felt wrong to give her that much information. To search for the comfort or resolution it might have brought her. Often times things were so unfair here, and she didn't mind it, but this felt different.

"But I don't think you're allowed to get upset at me if I do." She added quickly, and while she could have laced the words with something harsh, she did her best not to.

[Penelope Blaise]

As hypocritical as it was, Penny was upset to lose that hand. Her palm turned over against the sheets, fingers curling into the fabric tightly for something to finally hold onto. She was practically trapped underneath the thief, but hadn't the mind to physically push her away. Even if she had wanted to, there was a clear disadvantage in strength between them.

Nobody could seem to speak as bluntly as this woman. Penny's eyes widened with the curse word, as well as the information tagged with it. Lips parted, though not to speak, but rather let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. As twisted as whatever this was between them, the senator felt an undeniable sense of relief to hear those words, though that didn't completely make her anger dissipate.

And she ignored those next words, that palm pressing into the bedding as she forced herself upward, opposite hand reaching up and curling around the back of her neck as she hauled her closer, lips pressing forcibly against the thief's.

[Lucy Serrano]

There was a kind of admission that Lucy never wanted to have to give. Truthfully, she had always assumed that whatever she got to doing outside of these walls was business that wasn't cared about. So long as she came back consistently, what was the harm? There was a potential worry that the given information could be misconstrued, so she had continued, and that continuation had been ignored. Favourably.

Lucy moved as she was hauled down, lips sent crashing into the waiting set that felt aggressive against her own. If there was a point to be proven, she was sure it wasn't hard to catch. The hand pressed to her bed curled into the available sheets, and with her own strength she worked to rip them back well enough to show the form hiding beneath.

"Do you really want to know if I do?" She asked anyway, dangerous words brushing her lips; "Or is it enough to know I'm always coming back for you?"

[Penelope Blaise]

A connection like that carried its own brand of significance. Her lips came crashing against the thief's with a sort of desperation she never wished to show another individual. Her grip was borderline painful from the way nails dug into the line of her hair; a sign that she truly did miss this woman, despite her better judgement. Despite the way she desperately wanted to hate her.

Her eyes remained shut as she left a heated breath against the lips that asked what was wanted of her. She didn't dare pull away, because at least in closeness, it was hard to see. It was hard to judge, but it certainly didn't make it easier to speak.

"I want to know that you're not."

[Lucy Serrano]

With no fight for sheets left between them, Lucy allowed her free hand to settle against the form that had hidden from her. She was never used to being in bed with her with clothes still in tact, but she supposed there was a first for everything. And it was easy to let her fingertips track down the body she equally missed.

And then she spoke so freely.

It sounded like exclusivity. Like asking without asking. Lucy knew those words would likely never leave the senator's mouth, stubborn as she was. Perfect as she posed herself to be. Lucy was almost certain that there was an obvious sense to the way she was suddenly treated.

"Penny," She concluded, brushing the tip of her nose against hers lightly; "You're jealous?"

[Penelope Blaise]

She knew it was a bold statement, and she'd never be more forward than what she offered. Asking was out of the question. Penelope Blaise demanded, and she knew that fact. But this was different entirely. Real emotions were on the line, and though she tried so hard to push them aside, they were forcing their way through the cracks of the brick wall she surrounded herself with.

Her name sounded almost sweet passing Lucy's lips, and the senator took in a small, useless breath at the nickname she only rightly allowed the thief to refer to her as.

Her nose crinkled as she felt the soft contact against it. "Why does it matter?" She asked instead.

[Lucy Serrano]

Lucy should have known that no answer would find her. At least not right away. Not without something being lost first. It was always the usual progression, and it always ended the exact same way too. She couldn't be surprised.

"Why be jealous?" Lucy asked her, refusing to find herself derailed by her own prior techniques. She'd answered a question, and it was optimistic to assume she would even get a single shred of information back. But she was smiling.

Worse, she was grinning. It was smug in its own way as it played to her notorious ego.

"I mean look at me." Lucy continued on, "Look at what I went through to get here. Look at me now. Can't you tell how much I wanna be on your good side again?" That was, if she ever really made it there in the first place.

[Penelope Blaise]

When Penny finally opened her eyes, she first saw that grin. It had the senator exasperated almost immediately. Putting her feelings on the line was a rarity, and she somehow found amusement in it tall. It forced her jaw to tighten in its clenched state, but there was no denying how she missed being close to the thief. Without a set of sheets in the way, she wondered if Lucy could recognize the elevated beat of Penny's heart.

"It's been days." Penny countered, but she heard the cracks in her own argument as she began to crumble under the undying attention of this woman. Her breath already felt lighter under those dark eyes she had desperately missed.

Her back arched up, just slightly to bring herself closer to the thief. "I thought you didn't want to come back."

[Lucy Serrano]

The more Lucy lingered, the more it seemed evident that Penny was on the cusp of admitting an excess of information. She was surprised by the significant shift in her body; how she hoped for a better connection now that the sheets were drawn back.

"I know," Lucy replied. She felt acutely aware of the days difference between now and their last encounter; "I have this silly little thing called a legacy, and it needs a little bit of work attached to it every so often."

And then she reached for her hand again, dragging it back to herself. More importantly, to the hemline of the shirt she wore. The briefest stint of skin to skin contact threatened to have her mind reeling.

She tilted her head upward a fraction, brushing her lips against the tip for her nose instead; "Forgive me."

[Penelope Blaise]

It was pathetic how easily she became overwhelmed by this woman. Her hand was moved so easily, and when she found the place where she willed it to be, her fingers ducked under the fabric. Skin to skin, as it was wanted. As it should be. Her palm skimmed the thief's hip lightly, slowly drawing up to her stomach, anything to just feel a little more of the form she had missed so intently.

Lucy hadn't asked a request. It was a tactic often used by the senator herself, yet she found herself falling into the trap regardless. Proximity gave her a disadvantage, but she was happy to wear it now that she was close again. Even while the bridge of her nose creased, she was letting out a sigh that sounded almost content.

Her eyes were still shut, but she had no doubt of the expression she wore.

"Tell me again I'm the only one."

[Lucy Serrano]

Not a word for the fact that Lucy had work to maintain. Of course, in this company, there was a way out of that that seemed to work for both parties. The senator got lighter pockets, and she got to keep the thief for at least a night for such a loss. Fingertips were so quick to drawl across a reminiscent connection; one lost and longing for the days it had been.

It was rare to request any kind of power. Lucy never really stretched for the difference when she was so prone to asking her questions. She liked to be sure before she made any definite moves. She liked to know she was forgiven for her shortcomings before she fell too far. Every turned corner could lead to a trap with her, and so it was always better to stay safe.

Evidently, Penny had seen Lucy's behaviour for herself. She knew the thief was prone to something of a wayward attitude. Only two nights ago she had been caught catching the lips of an intriguing assassin posing as something far more mundane. With a preface already known and shared between them, an answer was easy. But she kissed her again first. It might have only been a few minutes, but it was far too many when a hand wandered her form and every breath could dust across her skin. Slow to draw to the point she had already made, but would easily give again.

"You're the only one." She replied at a whisper, stricken with the belief that it couldn't be a lie when she felt so understood.

[Penelope Blaise]

Given the nature of their relationship, it was a rarity for Penny to be caught wanting. Or needing. Monogamy was unheard of for an arrangement like this but it was practically being asked of now. Penelope Blaise was found jealous, and it burned as much as the woman who sourced it. Like a brand to sear her skin.

She was kissed before being offered an answer, but for once she didn't mind. It was far easier to get caught up rather than wait. And, at the very least, the thief still provided the exact words she needed to hear a moment later.

In a corrupted world, Penny believed her.

So she kissed her again, lips crashing against Lucy's without a second thought, arms heavy to drag her closer.

[Lucy Serrano]

For once, Lucy didn't feel a stint of fire by way of a fight they could have had. She thought on some level she would find herself scolded for her inability to answer right away; for the way she forced a preference in a moment that seemed to need it. She was given a sizable amount of leeway in a situation where she clearly ended up scorned. She filtered through two entire days and another night before Lucy ever made it. Given how disappointment looked on the senator, she imagined jealousy grew by leaps and bounds when time fed it.

It then became a rare moment entirely. Something completely new. Like she had authority in a situation where she'd never been granted it before.

She swung a leg over the form she partially pinned down, intent to completely keep her there now that she had a chance to as she hauled herself up to sit. She barely leaned over the form beneath her; just enough to allow hands to cross up the length of her covered form slowly. Clothes were irksome, and they then became first on her list of things to be rid of. She could have had haste and opted not to bother, but something felt different when her own hands reached her face. She brushed a thumb across the line of her cheek, and the closer she leaned down the more unruly locks shifted to threaten a curtain to her genuine expression.

"Trust me," She asked, despite impossible that request was in this life, "I think about you constantly."

[Penelope Blaise]

Penny found herself in a position where it hardly mattered if she wished to move or not, for the form above her had her completely pinned down. It felt like a shift of power - one that Penelope Blaise did not often give into. Yet here the thief was, completely talking her way out of what should have very well been a hostile situation. By all means, Penny had the right to yell, at least she felt justified in her own mind to be able to.

"Then why did you do it?" But her voice was almost gentle as she closed her eyes, feeling the way her hair threatened to tickle her own face as she leaned down. As that familiar hand pressed against her cheek.

She wanted to trust her. She desperately needed to, but witnessing an exchange within a public bar was hard to forget.