Wide Awake

[Lucy Serrano]

Lucy hardly ever liked announcing what she had taken from anyone. In any other circumstance, it wouldn't happen, because she was so rarely ever caught. Sure, this woman deserved some kind of warning if she went to have her evening meal. That was, if she even bothered to eat at all when in the company of the thief.

She didn't jump when her clothes hit the floor. She knew it was destined to be so. She was more surprised that it had taken as long as it had.

The idea that sleep was necessary had Lucy groaning. It was its own kind of agreement, but she didn't have to be happy about it. She wasn't happy about being wrong. And she wasn't happy about being left to sleep, especially when fought on the fact even further.

Parted lips went to argue. She was sure she would figure out something prominent, but the second after she tried nothing happened. She just stood there relatively dumbfounded by her own stupidity. And then she lowered her eyebrows; "How'm I meant to know when you woke up?"

[Penelope Blaise]

Penny could practically feel the way the thief melted into her arms. The bathtub was nearly full, but she couldn't think to pull herself away long enough to stop it when there was clear distraction in front of her, but the threat of help coming to fix the overflow of water did. Only then did she let go long enough to reach down around her and turn the faucet off.

"I thought you were always aware of your surroundings." Penny explained as her hand returned to Lucy's form, palm pressing to her thigh. "You should have woken up."

She sounded amused. She was amused. "It is not my fault you didn't."

[Lucy Serrano]

The lack of a hand on her own form provided no stability, which was odd within itself really. Rather, it threatened to make her somewhat aggressive just from the lack of it. Having been held up here all day with no company and nothing to do wasn't an ideal way to appease a kleptomaniac who had a huge name to keep alive.

When that returned to her, she reached for it instead. Fingers interlocked with hers almost instantly, if only to keep it from travelling.

"There are other reasons to wake me." She pointed out then, dragging that hand up with her as she folded her arms instinctively, "You were probably just really eager to get to work. That's alright. Leaving a person marked up and starkers in your bed is absolutely acceptable when you've got a senate to fight with- I mean, work with."

[Penelope Blaise]

Penny's hand was taken before it could make it anywhere far, but there was something incredibly personal about intertwined fingers. She didn't put up a fight as her hand was moved, giving Lucy's a squeeze as she crossed her arms. As easily distracted as she could have become with the person she pressed up against, she still listened. Really, she should have known better than to hear the thief out.

Penny's eyebrows furrowed immediately, a bitter taste forming in her mouth as her nose crinkled. It seemed like a low shot on a subject that the senator was clearly bothered with. If the thief was good with anything, it was getting under a person's skin within a few short sentences.

"Just as you never wake me in the mornings you leave?" Penny immediately questioned, back straightening with her cold tone. "Leaving the comforts of a warm bed and company for petty theft?"

[Lucy Serrano]

They were still close, and though her face couldn't be seen, Lucy was still threatening the usual grin all the same. The thought that she never woke her counterpart made complete sense to Lucy; why would she? She wanted to actually ask that, but the second she opened her mouth, she spoke again.

Petty? That was a harsh word. Particularly for someone so staggeringly great at the work she did manage to actually do. When she wasn't locked in someone's home all day, likely for the simple fact that she liked to win. Lucy felt her lips press together, almost like she was hoping to keep her mouth shut. It really wasn't the time to fight.

But it wasn't fair that she couldn't speak in a remotely similar tone to her.

The arm she had in her possession wasn't something she let go of. Rather, she held it more tightly. There was no getting out of this.

"Petty theft does more in a night than you've done in your entire life working for a stack of corrupt bloody liars!"

[Penelope Blaise]

A hand tightened within her own, and it was likely good that it had; Penny was moments from trying to let go. There was no doubt she would have regretted the action later, but she had yet to regret the hash choice of words she used to describe what she spent her time doing. And so her own hands tightened too, one to the hand that held her own and the other around her waist.

Her jaw clenched as she felt aggression burn through her veins. Were she not held practically captive, she would have at least tried to turn and face the thief.

"What you offer is an unstable, short term solution." Penny countered, voice slow to raise despite how dangerous it was to yell. "I am fighting them to provide a city where everyone can survive!"

[Lucy Serrano]

Lucy had always been a stubborn individual. She felt the way it muddled greater intent; she shouldn't have spoken so out of turn, and she shouldn't have indulged in the aggression that burned her. Because there was no way Penny would back down. She never did.

"And how well is that going? Because you come back here and every other night when I turn up, you're taking something out on me!" And she didn't complain. She still wasn't complaining. But the broken skin on her back had to be proof of something.

Lucy squeezed the hand she held, reminding the senator who always had the power that she didn't have it in this moment shared; "And while we're at it, if that's really how you feel, then maybe you should stop feeding the short term solution!"

[Penelope Blaise]

Her hand was starting to ache with the pressure put on it; when it came to physical strength, the thief who had to exercise it in order to survive had a clear upper hand. Penny's power was that of a different brand, it felt like it was slipping now. If Penelope Blaise struggled with anything, it was having a lack of control, and she was so skilled at taking it away from her, whether it be from the way nails were forced into the thief's back in attempts to just hold on or how she spoke now.

Penny knew how little progress she has made since she took the seat as senator. How she promised those living on the streets - those that voted for her confidence - and has thus far failed them. But anger burned bright in her eyes as she very much wanted to threaten that she has yet to see true aggression taken out on her, no matter how brightly her nails had carved into her skin. But of course, Lucy couldn't stop. She kept speaking before the senator could get a word in edge wise. She was as voiceless as she was in her seat in the senate.

And when given the opportunity, she did yell; "How else am I supposed to make you come back!?"

[Lucy Serrano]

A clever selection of words had Lucy's attention was thrown. More to the fact, it was the lack of lifted tone that had her so suddenly confused. She wasn't sure which to tackle first. She loosened her hold for the lack of aggravation.

"You can't make me do anything." Lucy retorted when she finally had the means to. It wasn't an easy conversation to handle considering they had just been shouting at each other. Suddenly raising her voice it seemed wrong; "I make that decision. I do."

"And all you can do is ask me." Like she had. And like Lucy would have complied with had she not been stuck in this home all day.

[Penelope Blaise]

It would have been easier if Lucy continued to yell; if she chose aggression over whatever it was she had now. It worked to disarm the senator more than she wished to admit. Had she wanted to, she could have pulled her arm away as she did want to moments ago, but with a quieter tone, it stayed in place.

At least she couldn't see her face.

"You need to make up for your time here." Penny explained, surprised at the way her own voice lacked aggression as well. "You've said so, and plenty of times." Was the silverware shoved into her pockets not enough proof of that?

[Lucy Serrano]

Penny wasn't wrong; the more time she spent here, the less impact she could make by usual means. It was the reason she filtered through kitchen drawers to make a decent quota. It was why it mattered even when she sort of wished it didn't.

"I make that choice." She offered instead. If she needed to, she could comply with greater things. The sacrifice could only be hers to wear. "I consistently choose this. I do. Because I like you." She said so herself, and she wouldn't deny that either.

With another second in passing, Lucy let her go. She unlocked her fingers from hers and let her arms drop to her sides.

"I can't go till nightfall." She started then, and her tone seemed definitive. They might have been discussing the fact that Penny wanted her to return time and time again, but she was still certain that this was where this ended.

[Penelope Blaise]

Her hand was completely let go of, and her own hands followed the same motion as Lucy's, dropping to her sides. She was still facing the thief's back, but part of her desperately wanted to catch her eyes. It wasn't enough to move her feet, however. Because Lucy spoke almost sweetly. Like she wanted to be there for more than what she could steal and the challenges she faced to make it into her bedroom. Penny had been quick to assume the thief's reasoning, and it was a hard mentality to break.

And now she talked of leaving, after having just said she chose her. Penny sucked in a small breath, trying to will herself to at least walk away. It seemed like the best option. The only real option that could guarantee a safe outcome.

"Stay." She said, instead. Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper. "Please. I'm asking you to."

[Lucy Serrano]

Lucy did her best to calculate how she was going to get out of this situation. She knew there was no way to leave just yet, and if she stayed in the space with the two of them, everything was a danger. Agreeing to distance was the only thing they could come to.

Until they didn't. And she asked that.

It was practically groundbreaking to have her admit that she was asking something. Lucy knew it had always been different. She knew it was likely fall back to the way things used to be. She would leave eventually, and when she came back, it would be as if there were no change.

As she was the first to turn around, she had to have faith in that.

"Well, I'm not gonna waste this." Lucy pointed out with a wave to the settled stint of still-hot water, handing the difficult senator such an easy way out of this conversation.

[Penelope Blaise]

Penelope Blaise did not ask for things. She took them with confidence and the power she naturally carried herself with. Clever wording could have possibly made the thief stay, but as she had pointed out, there was one thing that Penny could possibly do. So she tried, and as much as it strained her to release any sort of control, it was all she had.

And then she turned around. Dark eyes took a moment too long to meet those equally so; she'd never been afraid to look a person in the eye before, but she wasn't sure what she'd see here.

Drawn to her attention was the bath full of hot water, practically welcoming the pair with the wave of Lucy's hand. Eyebrows quirked; it was the perfect out. The senator knew an opportunity when she saw it. So she took it, and she didn't speak as she reached up to tie at the front of her blouse, pulling it loose.

[Lucy Serrano]

A perfect way out. Something simple to say that Lucy agreed to stay without having to give the words. She knew Penny had to be uncomfortable me with the progression of this conversation, and she had to fix it. She has to give her something.

It was taken without a single word, which was completely fair. Lucy dropped her eyes to watch the way her hands moved, caught by the perfect way she could move without trying.

"Tell me what happened today." She asked, her eyes still locked low.