Penny’s life had very rarely involved the words good luck. Bad luck, horrific luck, sure. But Kady loving him, and Syd being a good person who just happened to be able to raise the dead, was probably about all the real luck he’d ever experienced. And okay maybe knowing some of the other Magicians counted. Not that he’d ever tell them that.
The point was that he almost didn’t know what the fuck he was even looking at when good luck did head his way. He’d realized after waking up that he’d forgotten to buy any coffee, so he’d left Kady warm and sleeping in his bed. There’d been a penny near his shoes and he couldn’t even say why he’d picked the damn thing up, but now that he was opening the front door to a giant fancy basket full of pricey coffee, he was too distracted to care.
“What the fuck…?” Penny lugged the basket inside, sure it was for a roommate at least, but nope. There was his name on the label. And an envelope. He tore it open and a handful of hundreds fell out, like really sexy snow. The next “what the fuuuuck” came out through a baffled smile.
As soon as Penny had gotten out of the bed, Kady had woken up and hadn’t been able to get back to sleep. In fact, she had gone to take a shower as he’d gone downstairs, and the plan was to assign a random bunch of exercises to her trainees and go lie in bed, naked waiting for Penny. She had gotten thirsty, however, so turning it into a military shower (there was no time to wash her hair anyway, that thing needed time to do right) she ran downstairs with the towel wrapped haphazardly around herself and her hair still in a bun. Just in time to hear Penny’s demure exclamation, which made her go out to the front door.
“Good news?” She asked, eyebrow raised. Then, she saw the money. Definitely good news. “Damn, you looked like the most prolific stripper in the world just now.”
Penny scooped up the cash, his grin still a little dazed. His eyes caught on Kady standing near the door in a towel and he gave her a justified leer from across the room. “And you look like a literal and a figurative wet dream rolled into one.” He stuffed the cash back into the envelope and moved the basket to the kitchen island so he could dig through it properly for some kind of clue.
“It’s probably some kinda joke. I haven’t entered any contests or anything.” Giving the basket’s contents a suspicious squint, he looked back over at Kady again. “Have you?”
Kady smiled like a well pleased cat in the sun, eyes closing as she took a little turn after which her towel dropped - completely by accident. “Oops!”
She chuckled and decided to be a little elaborate in the way she crouched down to pick up the towel. A little sexy, a little inviting, a little too comfortable for being in a house that wasn’t just theirs. She walked over to the kitchen island while tying the towel back around her body. “Nah, I never win anything. Want me to whip up a little test to see if it’s dosed?”
“Uhhh…” It didn’t take a lot of effort for Kady to complete distract him and he was not even a little bit subtle about it either. After a few seconds of blinking at her though, his brain kick started back into place. “Sure, go for it. Test the coffee first, huh?” He smirked, making his way over the coffee maker to start getting it ready to brew. “That’s what started this. I was about to sneak out to buy coffee and there that shit was, sitting on the front step.”
The reaction wasn’t lost on Kady, smiling in self-satisfaction as she rounded the island to bump her hip against Penny’s at the coffee maker. She said a few words and put up her hands in front of her eye to make the shape of a frame. If there was anything in there that wasn’t coffee, or if it was somehow cursed, it didn’t show. Which probably meant it was fine, because Kady was no rookie Magician and safety had been a priority for years. Too long to slack off on detection spells. “Coffee’s fine. Smells so good, too. This is the good shit.” She moved on to the money envelope, same deal. “Money checks out too. And it’s not fake. Are you sure you didn’t win something?”
“Positive,” Penny grimaced. As nice as a little luck was, it also brought out the pessimist in him. Not like the pessimist was hiding deep under the surface or anything. He got a pot of coffee brewing and then moved to hook an arm around her shoulders, rooting through the baskets contents with his free hand.
“There was…this is gonna sound dumb,” he laughed, looking over at her. “But there was a penny in the bathroom. I picked it up because well…I’m an idiot.”
Given how this place had given Kady everything she could possibly have dreamt of, her pessimistic nature had taken a backseat lately, so she didn’t immediately see anything wrong with random gifts of coffee and cash. Not here of all places. She leaned her head onto Penny’s shoulder and looked while he rummaged.
The idea of what Penny had just said made her laugh, and Kady shook her head. “You know considering that you pick up a coin to get here in the first place that was bold of you.” She tilted her head. “So you think you picked up a lucky penny and became a lucky Penny?”
“I’m probably lucky I didn’t become a dead Penny.” Morbid joke aside, Penny let Kady’s ease give him some of his own. He pressed a kiss into her hair. “It’s too bad this basket didn’t come with breakfast. I’m starving.”
The doorbell dinged, snapping Penny’s gaze to it. It couldn’t be that easy, right? Literally nothing ever was. Squinting, he let go of Kady to go open the door. A bored looking guy in a uniform holding up another basket, this one full of muffins and danishes.
“Congratulations,” the delivery guy monotoned. He started to ramble off some other shit about the business that apparently made the baked goods, but Penny just snatched the basket and closed the door, giving a quick “uhhhh, thanks?” as he went. Turning around, he gave Kady a well, that just fucking happened face and carried the basket over.
It occurred to Kady as the doorbell rang that she might want to get some clothes on eventually, but she was a little too transfixed by the miracle happening at the door. Her eyes remained wide throughout the entire exchange, although they threatened to close as she felt the smell of freshly baked goods hitting her nose. She snickered at Penny’s abrupt conversation ender, meeting his look with a similar one.
“So. Anything else you wanna wish for while we’re at it?” She wondered. “Think on it while I go put on some clothes just in case. Very few clothes.”
“Iiii don’t know. Maybe. I’ll have to think about it.” Penny didn’t wish for things. Except some peace and fucking quiet in his head every once in a while. And Kady to come back when she disappeared back at Brakebills. Now, pulling out a Danish and taking a big bite, he pointed at her with the rest of it.
“Watch out for any other coins while you're at it,” he mumbled around the food in his mouth. “This shit could come back to bite us on the ass.” Paranoid warning delivered, he swooped in to give her backend a squeeze. “And not in the fun way.”
“Yeah or I’ll add ‘em to our piggy bank, get a college fund for Sam started.” Kady joked as she disappeared into the hallway. It took her little time at all to put on some fresh underwear, long socks and an oversized, thick cable knit sweater she had stuffed into Penny’s closet for a colder day weeks ago. Was it now a dress? Probably only because she wasn’t wearing any pants. Kady returned to the kitchen to fix herself a cup of coffee and make a quip about how surprised she was that all the danishes weren’t gone. Her phone chimed in her hand as she sat down.
“Oh, hey, seems I’m okay to go into work late today. I’ve got everybody working on wards and shields and I’m gonna go back to really test them out with some offensive shit.” She looked up at Penny and winked. “So where do you wanna take this lucky train next?”
Penny was on his second danish and third cup of coffee by the time she got back. The coffee was really fucking good. He swallowed a bite of danish and stopped frown at the baskets on the island from his stool long enough to look over at her.
“Shit, girl, that outfit just makes me wanna follow you around, panting.” He held out his hands like a dog begging and gave a joking little pant. As his hands fell away to pick up his mug again, Penny shrugged and gave a more sincere smile. “We could go shopping. Maybe I’ll…I don’t know, see if the others need some shit.”
Somehow the way Penny reacted to her, what she wore and did, still hadn’t gotten old. Kady didn’t think it ever would, if she was honest. Him imitating a dog made her laugh out loud and she slid Risky Business style over to his side pulling her coffee mug across the surface of the island as she went. When she stopped, Kady bumped Penny with her hip. “Down boy, eat first, get your strength up.”
She was presently doing the same, although even with a mouthful of danish Kady managed to look adoringly at Penny and his display of selflessness. “Look at you, not even pretending that everyone else’s welfare isn’t high up on the list anymore. Is that growth?” Swallowing the danish down with a full gulp of delicious coffee, Kady hooked an arm around Penny’s waist and squeezed. “But treat yourself too okay? You more than deserve it. You’re owed it.”
Grinning dopily at her laugh, Penny hipchecked her back before looking away. It was embarrassing, giving a damn about a bunch of jerks, but he wasn’t about to lie about it either. He just wrinkled his nose and stuffed another danish in his mouth, talking muffled around it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, babe.” It was almost intelligible. He took a few backwards steps towards the stairs. Normally, he’d probably have tripped right about now but his luck held. “I’m gonna go treat myself in the shower. Don’t eat all my danishes!”
Making no mention of how much bullshit was contained in that one muffled sentence, Kady continued to eat, a knowing smirk on her face the entire time. “Hmm!” She held up her hand, swallowing the pastry she had been eating and following it immediately with one gulp of coffee. “Maybe I will treat yourself in the shower.”
Anywhere else she would have considered how wasteful it was to shower twice in not even an hour, but- well, no she wouldn’t, and she gave even less of a shit here. When you clicked with someone just right even shower sex was as amazing as everyone pretended it to be. And she had, after all, been the one to suggest Penny treat himself to something good for being so deserving. With a wink, Kady blew Penny a kiss before he turned around.