Penny's smile broadened a bit when Gabby invited her to use a nickname, similar to her own in some respects. In a way, it made her feel as though she had made a connection and though it was a small thing, it wasn't something that Penny did often. She wasn't outgoing like her sister, nor was she encouraged to put herself forward as her brother was. Perhaps not long ago she might have been shocked by her own behavior but then, nothing seemed to make sense to Penny anymore: her sister was besotted with the stable boy, the king was dead, and she was feeling topsy-turvy. One thing that hadn't changed, though, was her mother, who still doted on Bernard, harped on Genevieve, and completely ignored her. She supposed she could always take comfort in that.
Penny shook her head slightly to clear it of such distracting thoughts, refocusing on the young woman she had just met. Surely Gabby would be more interesting than her wandering thoughts! It seemed as though Lucky had accepted that Gabby wasn't a threat because his tail was wagging at her greeting and she smiled at him, patting him to assure him that he was behaving well.
"He's friendly enough," Penny offered. "He's a little wary with strangers but he won't hurt you."
Despite Gabby's friendly grin, Penny found herself blushing at her thoughts of exploration, and then, embarrassed by the flush on her cheeks, she dropped her gaze to the ground. She wasn't certain why something so trivial embarrassed her so but it was so out of character that even talking about it was strange and uncomfortable. "I haven't done much exploring," she finally offered, forcing herself to lift her gaze and make eye contact once more. "My mother... she wouldn't approve." Not that it had stopped her sister but she certainly wasn't about to go there!