124 Howls: Loss and Hugs

[coyote_walking]

Derek's gone too now. This is getting... really hard to cope with.

I've got a bunch of errands to run and later I think I might go for a run. A real one.



[Feel free to run into and hug Mercy anywhere throughout the City or at the magic shop. Or, if you'd like to run into a coyote in the woods later, just put that in your tag.]

Comments

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[captaininnuendo]

[Jack isn't cursed today but he is out and about enjoying the benefits of the curse. He spies the woman who had talked to him the first day he arrived here across the square. Saying hello to her could go either way, he suspects, since their first conversation wasn't so good.

But, he decides to stubbornly try again. A woman can't hate a guy who doesn't even know her forever, can she? Surely not. So he crosses the way and waves to her, smiling broadly.]

Great day to be out, isn't it? All the hugging and the endless possibilities that go along with the hugging.

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[coyote_walking]

[Jack was the last person Mercy had expected to see. Part of her just wanted to run, but she was cursed, so she found herself flinging her arms around him in a hug.

And then bursting into extremely embarrassing tears.]

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[captaininnuendo]

[Well, maybe she doesn't hate him, which would be a relief to Jack. Bipolar is much less confusing. He's ridden the emotional roller-coasters of a few people before and even enjoyed it at times. So bipolar is much better than loathing. He can work with emotionally unstable.

He holds onto her tight in return for a few moments, then kisses what he can reach, which his her forehead.]

Hey, I didn't mean to make you cry. Just a good day to be out. You should be smiling about it really. It's a happy cry, right? Hugs should make people happy.

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[coyote_walking]

[Mercy attempted to pull away, trying to stop the tears from coming and failing miserably.]

Please, I can't -

You don't understand. I can't do this.

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[captaininnuendo]

[Once she tries to pull away, he lets go. He'd rather have a willing party than an unwilling one. And he doesn't really understand her reaction, so he even goes so far as to take two steps back just to make sure that she understands that he isn't making her do anything. He doesn't even point out that she hugged him first, although he's thinking it.]

Hey, it's alright. [No it's not because he really doesn't get it.] Hugs aren't for everyone. Just thought I'd say hello, see if we could get off on a better foot than before. But making you cry wasn't on the agenda, I promise. In fact, I make it a point to try not to make people cry, unless its with happiness, or arousal, or because they're glad to see me after so long.

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[coyote_walking]

[Mercy shook her head, grateful for the small distance he'd given her, even though all her body wanted to do was go back into his arms. He felt like her Jack, he smelled like her Jack, he held her like her Jack.]

I'm sorry.

[If she sounded utterly wretched and miserable, well, it was because she was.]

None of this is your fault.

I...

[It wasn't fair, and Mercy was, of all things, fair. She had to tell him, no matter how pathetic and embarrassed it made her feel.]

I... look...

Before you arrived here there was another Jack Harkness. He'd been here for quite a while.

[This was incredibly, miserably hard.]

We were - I loved him. And he cared enough about me that I was the only one he slept with. I didn't care about the flirting and casual kissing, but the sex part I did - and he cared enough that he was okay with that.

[She knew that any Jack Harkness would understand how much that agreement meant - and how much she must have meant to that other Jack.]

I never dreamed he would - but he did and we... we were very happy. It was all very new and special even though we'd lived in the same house together for six months or more before anything happened between us.

Then he... disappeared from the City, which had happened before and - well, when you showed up I thought you were him and when you weren't - when you flirted with me just like I was any random stranger you'd met, I thought -

I thought I'd just fall into a million pieces.

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[captaininnuendo]

[Well, this was awkward. And sad. And now he understood, kind of. He still couldn't because he had no context to have any of the emotional additive onto this that Mercy did. But he understood now that this was very real for her, or whatever had been between her and whatever version of him who had been here before was very real to her. And of course he looked like himself. He was himself. He couldn't help it.

But everything clicked now. He could understand. And he got it. And he wasn't sure what to say now. Jack Harkness was rarely at a loss for words, but he was now.

He stood there, eyeing her for several moments, turning everything she'd just told him over in his head. He would apologize but he wasn't sure what for. He would tell her it would be okay but he didn't know that it would be. Mercy seemed very distraught right now and Jack couldn't think of any way to fix it.

But at least for this brief moment, he was completely serious, no jokes, no snark, no rambles or random thoughts or run on sentences of thought that had nothing to do with the topic at hand.]

Well... I understand now. And I have to say I'm not sure what to do about it. I can try to stay away from you so that you don't... become upset like this. I don't like being the cause of people's upset unless I have good reason to be so. This is... new to me.

[iwasherefirst]

[Rose is running some errands as well. She smiles when she sees Mercy and heads in for a hug.[

[coyote_walking]

[Mercy hugged Rose back happily.]

Rose! Haven't seen you in a while.

[iwasherefirst]

Yeah s'been a while. How're you doin'?

[coyote_walking]

Hanging in, you know? More friends left. The usual.

How about you?

[iwasherefirst]

Sorry 'bout that. Sorta seems to happen here.

[It really does and that worries her]

'm good. [It's probably one of the few times she's ever said she was anything but brilliant. She's been doing a lot of thinking about things she really shouldn't be thinking.]

[coyote_walking]

It does.

[Mercy frowned a bit at Rose's response.]

Seriously... everything okay? Anything I can do?

action;

[anunluckypenny]

[Penny is out and about and generally running around like a very busy chicken with its head cut off (as usual). She catches sight of Mercy--she has only seen her on the network--and goes to introduce herself in person.

Before she can get an introduction in, she finds herself giving Mercy a hug.]

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[coyote_walking]

[Mercy hugged her back, a little surprised, but she was cursed herself, too.]

Hi. Penny, right?

action;

[anunluckypenny]

Yep, I'm Penny--and that wasn't exactly how I meant to say hello. Mercy?

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[coyote_walking]

Yes, that's me. Nice to actually meet you in person.

action;

[anunluckypenny]

The same to you. Oh--and I promise I'm not usually quite so touchy-feely. Curse. You know how it is.

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[coyote_walking]

Trust me, I understand. I'm not usually like this either.

[ Action ]

[bettercallit]

[ Ignore the fact there is a complete stranger throwing his arms around him. This is a special moment. ]

Re: [ Action ]

[coyote_walking]

Sorry.

[She blushed a bit.]

I'm cursed today, which means I'm hugging everyone who walks by

[bettercallit]

It's starting to look that way.

[ He's new to the city, and this is the first curse he's really experienced. ]

It might not look like it, but I'm trying to step away.

[coyote_walking]

[She couldn't help but laugh.]

Yeah, me too.

So, well, I'm Mercedes Thompson, welcome to the City. This is not normally how I greet newcomers.

[bettercallit]

As far as greetings go, it's got my approval.

[ He finally manages to prise his arms from around her and take a step back. ]

It's a pleasure, Mercedes. Clint Barton.

[coyote_walking]

I suppose as icebreakers go, it's not bad.

[She took a step back herself and smiled at him.]

Nice to meet you, Clint. Welcome to the City?