of cats and dogs (c)

Penny stared as she opened the door to the home, finding a woman sitting on the couch. She was sipping a little cup of tea, and staring at the door, clearly expecting someone else to step through. Funny, considering Penelope had been expecting someone else to be sitting on the couch. Her eyes blinked slowly as she tried to adjust to the situation, before letting a deep frown dawn her features, eyes narrowing.

"Is Elijah home?" She asked curtly. The woman simply pursed her lips as she swallowed, and shook her head. Penelope gripped the shoulder strap to her bag tightly, feeling anger rise inside of her.

"Where is he?" Penelope asked the second question with more grit to her voice, wrinkling her nose slightly.

"Out on business, I think." The other woman answered simply, before setting down her teacup. "Are you the maid? It seems there's more dishes than usual." She smiled pleasantly, although there was something sinister behind the smile. Penelope dropped her bag onto the chair and raised her eyebrows.

"No, I'm-" She stopped there, because she didn't exactly know what to refer to herself as when she came her. What were her and Elijah? What were Elijah and this woman? "Who are you?" Penny blinked, looking more confused than angry now. Was she a relative?

"Why, I'm Elijah's girlfriend, Marissa." The woman smiled again, although it was more of a sinister grin this time. "I'll make you some more tea." She hopped up to go to the kitchen, as Penny sunk slowly into the chair her bag was in, sitting on the very edge of the seat.

When the key entered the lock, Penelope didn't even look up, she just stared straight forward. However, Marissa became a little more than excited as the door swung open, and Elijah stared into the home.

"Elijah, darling! I'm just making some tea for one of your little whores!" She chimed. Penelope's eyes started to well up as she thought about everything that had happened over the past few weeks. After the mention of the word whore, however, she found her feet carrying her over to the girl and smashing the teacup out of her hand.

With her hurt arm, she grabbed Marissa by the hair and tossed her forward slightly, before bringing her elbow up and dragging her body right back into it. Marissa's nose started bleeding instantly, and Penelope tossed her to the floor, watching her skid across the linoleum tile of the kitchen.

Penelope stood there with gripped fists, just waiting for her to get back up again.

Penelope was heaving silently with her back to the both of them for the most part. She had been so stupid. Why would another woman's product be there? Because another woman was probably just away for the time being. Maybe that's why Elijah was always so curious as to when she would be coming over. Penelope gripped her fists even tighter, feeling her nails cut into her palms.

When Elijah started getting cross with Marissa, however, Penelope turned slowly, glaring at her. So Elijah was just as surprised to see her. Either that, or he was just really good at acting. The way he glanced her way, though, worry mixed with embarrassment, Penelope heaved in another deep breath, feeling the familiar feeling of blood dripping down her arm. Her stitches were still in, and she could tell a couple of them had definitely ripped after that bow to the bitches face.

"Elijah, don't let her look at me like that! I'm a mess because of her!" Marissa cried. Penelope glanced to the floor and started to laugh slightly, before cracking her knuckles and raising her hand, crunching it in front of her.

"C'mere. I'll give you something to really cry about." Penelope threatened, glaring straight past Elijah and into Marissa's eyes. There was something almost chaotic about the way that she looked now, like there was something inside of her that threatened to get out and terrorize the other woman. Marissa pushed Elijah aside and took a stance, fists in front of her face.

Penelope stepped forward slightly and stood very still, waiting for Marissa to come at her first. When she did, Penelope barely moved but an inch, watching as Marissa tried to throw out the first punch. Once her fist was in the air, things seemed to move in slow-motion for Penelope. She leaned slightly to the left, avoiding the girls fist completely. As Marissa started to fall rather than catch herself, Penelope raised her left arm and caught her in the throat, open-palmed,watching Marissa stumble back for air. As the other girl teetered on her heels and started falling forward again, Penelope grabbed her by the wrist and brought her down, cracking her torso over her knee.

Marissa stumbled back, gasping for air, reaching out for anything that moved. When she finally managed to stand, Penelope's heel connected with her jaw bone, and she was down on the floor for the count.

Panting, Penelope set her foot back down and clapped her hands free of the "dirt", before looking up to Elijah.
"So, who is she?"

Penny glanced down to Marissa, before glancing back to Elijah as he said she wasn't his girlfriend. Or course she wasn't, that much was obvious. It just crushed her inside to think that Elijah hadn't noticed her... nesting here by leaving her things. Penelope glanced at the sweater she had left there for over three weeks now, staring back at her from the hook that it hung from. Did he even notice that she had left that here?

She let her glance slide back to Elijah, who seemed to flit his gaze to Marissa, before looking back bravely at Penelope.
"I see." Penelope glanced down to the other woman and tapped her elbow with her foot, making sure she wouldn't just spring back to life. Although those weren't her best moves, Penny couldn't always be sure what people's pain thresholds were. She just went for a happy medium-strength. Guess medium was just a tad too much. She'd remember if it ever happened again.

Glancing over to her shoulder, she placed her hand over it, feeling blood drip off her fingertips. She had ripped some of her stitches, and that had hurt quite a bit. But not as much as Marissa describing her many nights with Elijah in the past. She hadn't said how recently, but being called such names had snapped Penny before she could even think about trying to get that answer out of her.

"Sorry that I knocked her out." Penny said finally, exhaling slowly. "She said some pretty colourful things to me before you came home, too. Couldn't take being called a whore one more time." Penny gripped her fists again, looking down to the floor in front of her. Elijah was the only one she'd been with, how did that make her a whore?

Penelope watched as Elijah texted one of his friends to come get Marissa. As he did so, she wandered over to the couch and sat down, sighing loudly. Her hand went to her face and she pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. She was still pretty pissed about all the things Marissa had said. Before Elijah had come through the door, Marissa had been describing intimate details... And something about Elijah being in Magma.

Penny's eyes flashed open as she remembered this, before glancing over to Elijah, raising her eyebrows.
"So, she works for Magma, too?" Penny stood up again and crouched by Marissa's unconscious body, staring at it. She reached out and pulled her up, easily hauling her into a chair and setting her in it. With a quick reach into her pocket, she pulled out a couple of tissues and shoved them up the girls nose before examining her carefully.

"Interesting." Penelope glanced up to Elijah and blinked at him, tilting her head. "My shoulder can wait. I'd rather get that mug cleaned up." She walked over calmly to the pile of broken ceramic pieces and started picking them up, hearing a knock at the door.

"Must be one of your friends." She nodded towards the door and watched as it swung open. Her body instantly tensed as she saw the man standing there. The clothes were different, but the face was recognizable. He was one of the men chasing her in the woods one day. Her hand gripped one of the larger pieces of ceramic, staring at him with narrowed eyes.

"What did she do this ti-Holy shit, Elijah, did you do that?!" The man asked, staring at the Marissa, who looked like a bloody, black-eyed mess. It was then that he seemed to notice Penelope kneeling in the doorway to the kitchen. She tensed even more.

"Oh. You have... Other company. She looks familiar." The man narrowed his eyes back at her and scratched his chin. "Do I know you there, honey?" He gave a coy grin. Penelope stood up slowly.

"I think it's best if you didn't know me." Penelope stated clearly, monotone in her voice. She gave Marissa a slight look and tilted her head in her direction ever-so-slightly.

"Right?" She said a little quieter, questioning this man's intentions. Slowly, the man nodded and folded his arms across his chest, before moving closer to Elijah, expecting some sort of protection.

"Right... Well... Let's get little miss break-and-enter out of here." He swallowed hard. "Before anything else happens we might all regret."

"Excellent idea."

Penelope watched as the two men carried Marissa out, her deadweight being just enough to make the other Team Magma struggle against her body. It was a little awkward to watch, this man groping around for something to hold her up with. When he finally got a good hold, Penelope waved curtly to him as he left, watching as Elijah closed the door.

Now that they were alone, she felt this strange rift between them, as if there were going to be a lot of unanswered questions. She didn't care that he was in Team Magma, or that he had other women who seemed to frequent his house on nights that she wasn't there. Or maybe he didn't, and Marissa was really just as crazy as she had originally thought. It didn't change the fact that she still cared for Elijah, and it wasn't going to be the main reason why she stayed upset for the rest of the night.

Sighing loudly, she went over to help him pick up the rest of the ceramic mug, placing the pieces gently in her hand. Her arm was still streaked with blood, but it would up getting smeared on her somehow, avoiding hitting the floor and making a bigger pool where Penelope's blow had left Marissa's blood on the kitchen floor. After she had placed the mug into the trash, she grabbed a paper towel and soaked it, before wiping up the blood on the floor.

When he asked her if he was going to be weird about "it," she couldn't really tell what "it" meant. She shrugged her shoulders and looked up from her spot on the floor, smiling a bit.

"It was all rather exciting, wasn't it..." She spoke as if it were more than a statement, than a question. "Happened so fast, I'm kind of exhilarated." she hoped the response would be enough to let him know that she wasn't upset, or angry. Just sort of... thrilled. Her mind was already racking up ways that she could do it again. Now that she had had a taste of what it felt like to release that sort of anger... She wanted more.

"I won't be weird. Promise." Penelope smiled at him sincerely. "Nothing to be weird about."

Penelope watched him as she thought about her answer for his question, before shaking her head slowly. It wasn't that she enjoyed beating people up. She just enjoyed the rush afterwards. She had spent a lot of years honing those skills, and when the rare opportunity came up to use them... She enjoyed the rush, the adrenaline pumping through her bloodstream.

"I don't enjoy beating on people... But I do enjoy the rush." Penelope answered simply before shrugging. Elijah seemed to paused for a long while after that, going about his business in silence. She could tell that a lot of questions were lingering in his mind, and she didn't want him to just freak out one day and ask her everything at once, so she opened her mouth to explain everything, when he asked her another question.

"Magma?... Oh, right." Penelope laughed a bit at herself for already putting that to the further reaches of her mind. "As long as you're happy with what you're doing, I don't care what you do. It's a secret organization, right? Perhaps I shouldn't ask many questions, lest I get in trouble." Penelope smiled and reached out, putting her hand on his cheek. She smoothed her thumb over what she could only assume was five-o'click shadow - although she had never seen him with a beard since she had known him - and laughed slightly, before shaking her head.

"What were you doing for so long that you couldn't shave, hmm?" Penelope ran her hand more roughly along the edges of his jaw to show him that he had stubble growing. "Looks like you were out for a night."

Penelope's heart sank a bit, hoping that it wasn't another Marissa incident all over again.
"I missed you." She said suddenly, as if it were the most important thing in the world to say at that second. In the back of her mind it meant, "Please don't say something that will hurt me," but at the same time she did actually get a little homesick being away.

Penelope shivered at the touch on her waist, craning her neck to let him nuzzle her cheek with his own face. This was a whole other rush, and it always felt amazing. Unlike the adrenaline pumping through her blood when she was fighting, the feeling she got frm Elijah was like white hot metal boiling through her veins, igniting every nerve ending his skin made contact with.

She closed her eyes and mumbled a soft "mm" in response to taking a particular interest in his happiness before opening her eyes once she realized she had been swaying slightly with him. This was awfully romantic.
"More of a personal interest in you, really." Penelope smiled and turned her head to iss his neck, before wrapping her own arms around him, letting him continue to hold her.

"As long as you were safe." She mumbled against his ear, going back to rock slightly with him. That's all she really cared for, his safety and happiness. Her eyes slid closed once more as she rested her forehead on his shoulder, listening to his breathing.

"I'm glad you missed me." Penny whispered, squeezing him a little tighter. Feeling this safe with Elijah had become a common occurence, and all part of day to day life. Were they a couple now? Shehad a feeling she would need to ask sooner rather than later. She just didnt know how to ask.

How did someone ask that, anyway? Penny racked her brain for the proper words. Would she just ask if she would have to worry about anyone else like Marissa? Penny frowned to herself before leaning back. 

"There's no more Marissa's going to be coming here, right?" I don't think I can compete if im going to be busting my shoulder open every time." Penny laughed awkwardly and tried not to let it seem too much like she was worried about such a thing.