ONCE BURNED was made by MEL. Copying, altering, or stealing any of the site's content is prohibited. All of ONCE BURNED's characters are the original work of their owners and may not be replicated or stolen. All images and graphics belong to their rightful owners and ONCE BURNED does not claim to own any of them.
It was then Lucy's turn to steal a little humour from the entire situation. Watching her love drink her own preferred choice of alcoholic wonder was awesome. She clearly hated it. She honestly couldn't wait to share the bitter taste in her mouth.
A valid question? Not in the slightest. She did want to see how it was taken, though.
"You can't take them off the table, love." Lucy retorted, and in her mind, her justification was unstoppable; "I thought you didn't like it when I tried to keep my mouth shut? What am I gonna say later? I'm not gonna spoil the mood my praising Jesus to the ceiling."
This was the first time in almost a year that Penny had a significant amount of alcohol, and with the amount she'd already consumed in the short amount of time they'd been sitting at a table, Penny was well aware of the effects, though her ability to care dropped significantly. Fingertips drummed against the table top as she listened through an explanation she didn't quite have the patience for.
"Lucy," she tried, though she had to give in a little. Words came a little too easy for her. "I don't recall too many moments where you could keep quiet."
Lucy was always good with her language when their son was around. She put a lot of effort into making sure she wasn't swearing around him. So in these moments shared together without his attention, she felt she should have been free. Sure, Penny didn't like it, but surely she could pick her battles, else the Australian might start waxing lyrical in front of an infant.
That tone with her name was a threat of its own. Was she flustered? Was it from her words or the alcohol burning her sensitivity.
"What kinda night do you wanna have, babe?" Lucy asked her instead, because she couldn't quip the information given to her. Penny wasn't wrong.
A nickname that was slowly starting to grow more familiar had Penny letting out a sigh. It was so like her love to put on an ultimatum like this, and even if Penny should have learned to be more lax around the subject of swearing due to Lucy's outstanding behavior in front of their son, she struggled to let old habits die.
Reaching down, the psychometrist dove into her purse, and although she could have easily reached for her cellphone, she bypassed it in favor of her wallet. Securing a plastic card, it was pressed to the table top with perfect timing for the waiter to be bringing them their meals. "Box those up." Dark eyes barely gave him time before they were looking at her wife again. "We're leaving."
Lucy never expected any real right of way for her negative actions. There were things she did and said that would likely always drive the Brit insane, and swearing was just one of those things. She had no real intention to keep it in check, and Penny probably knew that already, but it was fun to watch her try.
Lucy thought forsure that she was going for her phone, and that she'd do it out of some kind of spite. She took a long swig from the bottle she procured again for good measure. But really quickly she realised she was planning on paying. Plates didn't even hit the table before she was ordering them off again.
"Finally. I mean, fuck." She was well and truly done with weekly pretending everything was well and good.
The server hadn't even the time to get the plates on the table before the credit card appeared and stopped him mid-tracks. Penny heard but ignored the frustrated sigh he didn't try to hide, instead tipping her own glass back to finish the contents. Even if it was something she preferred over beer, the amount taken to finish it off caused her nose to crinkle.
This time, she didn't bother trying to correct the ink manipulator on her language. Her own patience was dwindling, though not with her wife's choice of language, but with her desire to leave and find proper privacy they hadn't had in months too long, mostly due to her own stubbornness. A fault she wasn't ready yet to admit outside. She already started to push herself up to stand, reaching for her purse and coat.
"Tip that little fucker like sweet F A." Lucy argued quickly. She hadn't liked him from the moment she saw him, and the little huff he offered only made her like him less.
She left her seat when Penny did, but she didn't have much to grab. Everything was in her pockets already. Still, she didn't wait as she stepped towards her. A hand circled around her waist to draw her close and kiss her in the restaurant.
She had began to slip on her jacket when Lucy approached her, and with just one arm in a sleeve, she already abandoned the mission to put it on in that moment, because familiar, loving hands were reaching for her, and there wasn't an ounce of hesitation in the psychometrist when she met her halfway. Arms looped around the ink manipulator's shoulders, keeping her close as they kissed.
Likely drawn out too long given their setting, Penny hadn't cared. If anything, it was a confirmation of what was to come later that night. Nails ran down the length of Lucy's form, already wishing that they could catch skin.
The server returned, and his attitude had yet to get any better. Penny's lips pursed when she had to peel herself away from the Australian, only to scribble a on the bill. A flat line through the tip was proof enough that she hadn't liked him, either. "Come on." She replied on a heated breath, sounding far more like an order than a request.
Despite the public nature of their affection, Penny wasn't fighting her and she wasn't really holding back either. That surprised Lucy for a second, before she recalled the heavy influence coursing through her body by now. That and she was likely carrying half her weight in some brand of frustration. She grinned against the lips that stole her own, intent to stay close for as long as she could before they were interrupted.
The Australian side eyed him for a brief second, but she'd already decided he wasn't worth looking at for long. A subpar attitude would get its response from Penny of course, but she didn't like having to wait. A hand still fastened itself low on her waist, following as she was ordered to do so.
She saved her quips for the second they were outside. Easing in close, she pressed a kiss against her ear, letting her teeth sink in for a second before she bothered to try and talk. "You wanna walk?"
The cold air did nothing to sober Penny up; her breath was colored white as she exhaled heavily and walked with brisk steps. It wasn't far. Within walking distance because the psychometrist calculated every possible situation they would be put in, including the inability to drive by the time they left the restaurant.
But teeth sunk into her ear and she seethed, eyes drawing shut as she faltered in her steps for a moment. Because she was always too much. And that was hardly a bad thing, but it made doing just about anything else nearly impossible.
"Fuck." And there it was - the only thing to get Penny to drop a curse from usually poised lips. Alcohol worked well to make her reconsider her harsh opinions on cursing. "We can't drive."
For Lucy, making plans was never her forte. She was more one to follow them, and so her attention hadn't landed on the dilemma of how to get where they needed to be. She only cared about the body willing to keep her warm for the rest of their lives.
A swear from the mouth of her love we enough to force Lucy to give a breathless laugh. They were rare in their appearance, and she absolutely knew why the psychometrist had given it.
It barely even registered to the psychometrist that she had cursed, her focus instead landing on the ink manipulator and the dilemma at hand. "Come on." She settled with as an answer, shifting to take hold of Lucy's hand like a lifeline.
It wasn't far, and instead of making her way towards the car, she chose instead for the road. "It'd take just as much time to get to the car and drive." Though her thoughts were drifting towards the privacy a car provided.
Stalling in their space seemed a little ridiculous. Given how pressed they seemed for time, it felt like a waste to exist outside a restaurant waiting for proper plan to follow through. Lucy was often a difficult person to draw the focus of when her mind was on something else. Her hand was taken and she faltered in her initial steps as they started to walk.
She had no idea where they were going. She didn't care in the slightest. She squeezed the hand she was holding onto. "Oh yeah listen, I totally get you. I'm not fighting you on that. Cause I'm not fuckin' driving." Her hands against a wheel was the worlds worst idea right now, no matter the distance.
Determined steps were quickly bringing them closer to the hotel - by then, the psychometrist had eyes on the tall building. She squeezed the hand she held - at least her love was smart enough to know that she wasn't in any shape to drive, and at least they were close. She only came to a halt at the crosswalk of a busy intersection, waiting for the light to change, and only then did she dare to look back at the ink manipulator.
It was hard to tear her eyes away once they landed on her, though she managed to in favor of catching her lips again, free hand moving behind Lucy's neck to pull her in close with a little too much force.
Lucy did her best to match the quick pace Penny was putting in place. After all, she knew the psychometrist wasn't going to slow down for her in any way, and now clearly wasn't the time to test her patience by purposefully fumbling.
Stalled by a red light, Lucy looked at it for a few seconds before she realised Penny had graced her with look in her direction. Locking eyes with her was more of a danger than anything else; worse than the hand that held her own.
She was dragged in and lips were pressed against hers harshly. She freed her hand of the one that held it and pressed it to the small of her back instantly, leaving zero space between them in the red light of the time wasting crosswalk. She only separated with a necessity to breath, and when she did, she couldn't keep her mouth shut.
"Fuck me up, Penny." Lucy declared the second she got a chance.