Family ties are strong...

[vw_coyote]

Who: vw_coyote, painhumbles, and hexyoutotuesday
When: Saturday, May 21st, evening
Where: Mercy's place
Summary: Mercy knows who has just arrived, and has invited a few people for some damned good food.
Warnings: Umm, language? Other than that... probably not.

Comments

[vw_coyote]

Mercy wasn't meeting Jinx's eyes. Not because she had something to hide but because in her culture that was a fight. A fight that she was bound and damned determined not to have over the lovely pan of lasagna that she'd made.

Instead, she looked just slightly to the left, never making full eye contact.

So, she did as any Alpha bitch who had an upstart in the pack and she couldn't smack her into next week - something looking more appealing to Mercy every second - and merely ignored the spoiled little brat that had come to her table. That she'd invited. Then again, she'd thought she was inviting an adult, not a child who had to be nosier than was polite.

If she were a wolf, Jinx's throat would already be torn out. Luckily, the coyote was usually smarter. Although Mercy was having a very hard time not curling her lip and growling.

"I've always thought it wasn't the original laws that were the problem, but the human interpretation of them." So, she just ignored Jinx's question and focused on Gabriel. "Tell me more about Purgatory. I was going to try to make the opening, but I had work the next morning."

[painhumbles]

The thing about archangels is that they're alphas. They recognize other alphas. In her pack? Jinx was alpha. In Mercy's? She was. Why he thought bringing them both together was a good idea when he knew full well, this was going to be a very unsexy bitchfight, he'd never be able to guess.

So while the two alpha females in the room bared their teeth at each other, Gabriel continued to eat his lasagna with the perplexed expression of someone who hasn't had something with a full serving of nutrition in it for some time and is actually shocked it tastes decent.

"Ohhh you know how these clubs are. People dance, they drink, they make fools out of themselves, and I eat up every second of it. The lasagna's great, by the way." He side-eyed Mercy in a way that wasn't so much a threatening warning as a, 'Oh, Honey, do not underestimate this girl' warning. The last thing he needed was for Jinx to hex her at her own table and then get into a fight with an angry coyote to keep them from killing each other.

And he figured Mercy was the one who'd likely back down. Jinx would only play nice if the people around her played nice. It wasn't fair to the rest of the world, but, well, Gabriel didn't exactly build a house on fairness. To the more immature go the spoils, lest everything get spoiled.

[hexyoutotuesday]

Jinx's body tensed up. Her pupils shrank as she stared at Mercy. She just ignored her. Outright. Talk about a group of alphas. There was a big reason why Jinx's female friends were isolated to tomboys and children. All she could see right now that there was another girl talking to Gabriel, and he was talking back, like she didn't even exist. This was where the logical part of her system just shut down.

Now, maybe one day she'd look back at this moment and feel shame. One day beyond that, she might even laugh at it. But right now, she was nineteen, in a situation she was not at all comfortable with, her authority felt like it was being challenged, and this was the first time she had ever seen Gabriel talk to another woman like this. Before, it was all bystanders. But this was his friend. At least she was thinking clearly enough to know setting her on fire was ground for divorce.

Taking it all out on him was the next best option.

Without a word, she stood up with enough force to topple her chair over backward. The sound of that crashing to the floor mingled with the sound of impact as Jinx, tactlessly, backhanded her boyfriend.

Before anyone could say anything, she turned on her heels, stormed out of the dining room, and left the apartment all together. The front door slammed shut. Out in the hallway and time to dwell on some insecurities of hers, Jinx paced like an angry cat.

...it could have been worse. Really, it could have.

[vw_coyote]

Mercy couldn't contain the growl as the girl stomped out of the house.

Then, she calmly walked over, picked up the girl's chair, put it back under the table and sat back down. She looked at Gabriel and just raised an eyebrow at him.

"I thought you said you were dating a woman." Mercy couldn't help the jibe, petty as it was. She went back to her lasagna. "I'm planning on coming to Purgatory. Probably going to drag Rochelle with me. It's been a while since I tested my senses that far."

Keen hearing + loud music = headache.

However, she wasn't about to allow that little brat to ruin her meal. She worked hard and played with bigger girls than that one. Let her get around a single wolf, and the girl would either be dead, or learn respect. The stench of the girl's tantrum still stung her nostrils.

[painhumbles]

Gabriel just sat there for a moment, tense and kind of annoyed- more at himself than anything, because, honestly, Jinx was Jinx and expecting her not to freak out was a bad call. This was up there with 'don't tug on Superman's cape, don't spit into the wind, and don't piss off an archangel' on the List of Things You Did Not Do. He might have been a little irked she hadn't held herself back, but... Again, it was Jinx. She had a different kind of mentality than Mercy. And Gabriel, having been a pack animal, and now currently the kind of animal Jinx was, understood both sides of this.

He registered Mercy had continued on a few seconds too late and shook himself out of his internal reverie. "I swear you're both welcome anytime- don't worry about that. It's a great atmosphere. You'll love it." He grabbed a piece of bread off the table and held up a finger. "I'll be right back. Just gimme a second to put out a fire, okay?"

He vanished from the kitchen, reappearing behind Jinx a moment later. "I don't say this often, so... Record it for posterity." He took a breath. "That... Was dumb."

[hexyoutotuesday]

In Jinx's opinion, she hadn't done all that much wrong at all. At least she had tried, which was more than she would do for anyone else. Conversation was started, and it led to a bad place. That wasn't her fault, right? Then all they did was allude to things, like some sort of inside joke she wasn't allowed in on. Like they were big, responsible adults talking about their stupid adult topics over their stupid lasagna. Maybe Gabriel would rather date her, huh? She could cook, she had boobs, and they seemed to get along great.

See? It was a perfect fucking match.

As she paced in the hallway, she got herself more and more worked up. To a point that the lights out there were flickering. So, when Gabriel suddenly appeared behind her? He didn't get the warmest of responses. She stopped moving long enough for him to spit out what he wanted to say. Then she whipped around, angry, upset, and about two seconds away from decking him.

"Dumb? Oh, this stopped being dumb a long time ago. Congratulations, you've crossed the line into mental retardation." She pointed at the door, fingertips sparking. "So why don't you go back in there with that trashy, older bitch who will do nothing but bake for you because you're such a good friend. Look, I'll give you two the whole night together! How does that sound? What I don't know won't hurt me, right? So have fun!"

Growling loudly, she pushed past him and made her way toward the stairs. She wiped at her eyeliner with her thumb and bit down on her bottom lip.

[vw_coyote]

Okay. Superhearing sucked. Mercy had put up with that spoiled little brat, but there were some things that she just wasn't going to let slide. That little brat had come into her house, and started having a fit because Mercy made brownies and had invited a friend over for dinner.

Christ it was like being in between Samuel and Adam. Which was exactly why she was going out into the hallway, and not staying out of it. the coyote is not always right.

"Listen, you pain in the ass child." Mercy's voice was more of a growl than she'd allowed it to be so far and she really wanted to shift to just bite the little shit. "I don't care who the hell you think you are, but you came into my house, hit my friend and rescuer and then have the nerve to call me a trashy older bitch?"

Mercy was all but shaking with the need to change. She didn't get the Rage the way the wolves did. But that didn't mean she didn't have a temper. "I'm sorry, Gabriel, but I'm going to ask you to take this spoiled little child out of here, before I do something I won't regret. Whenever you're done coddling her, you can come pick up the brownies."

She walked back into the house and very carefully closed the door. Once behind it and having it locked, she ignored the kitchen, stripped out of her clothes and shifted. Right now, she needed four legs, not two.

[painhumbles]

....

Okay. That was probably not the worst situation that had ever happened to him involving two women, but it was also... Not the best. He had half a mind to defend his ego by pointing out that he didn't coddle Jinx- yes, she was being unfair, but she had plenty of reason to be. Unfortunately, angel knowledge was an unfair advantage to begin with and it wasn't like Jinx was going to broadcast her issues. And basically neither woman was handling this well. In fact, the only person in any way in the right was him. Because he didn't do anything.

Except, uh, ignore Jinx to smooth over a fire, which turned out to be throwing gasoline on said fire.

He slammed his forehead into his palm and exhaled. Right. Well, he was going to have to explain something and mend bridges- dammit, why did he have to care so much? "Jinx, I'm gonna say words that will probably make you hit me again, but can you hold off on breaking your hand on my jaw until after I'm finished?" He paused and then lowered his hand, eyes that weird cloudy blue-gray color. "Please."

[hexyoutotuesday]

This night fucking sucked. It blew. Bit. She wanted it to be over and forget about it for the rest of her life. Jinx was hurt, upset, felt like everyone was ganging up on her, and she was irrationally terrified. Sure, she and Gabriel had been through a lot together. They loved each other. She should trust him more. But with all the stupid bullshit boys put her through time and time again. Cyborg and his betrayal, Kid Flash and his cheating, Yukimi and his sudden disappearance, even that stupid kid with the freeze ray. No wonder she was so jealous she would bring things to this.

Mercy calling her a child didn't help at all. She totally missed the message about her being a rude house guest and took it as Mercy telling her Gabriel needed a woman. She called him her rescuer, which rubbed her in all the wrong ways. How dare she yell at Jinx like this. Oh, back in the day - the good old fucking days - she would just snap her fingers and break both her legs. When she was a villain. When there weren't consequences, so long as she could defend herself. When the only thing she gave a shit about was herself.

Her back was turned to Mercy as she yelled. When she stormed off inside, she could hear the click of the door locking. A low growl emanated from the girl the entire time. Her hands balled into fists. Risen hackles pricked at the back of her neck and her feet slid apart into a stance. She was trying. Trying so damn hard not to let loose on his stupid fucking friend.

There just came a time when she couldn't hold it back anymore. Two seconds after Gabriel's last word, one of the light fixtures in the hall way just exploded. Both her fists lit up. When she turned around, her eyes were glowing, too. This? This was anger. Territorial rage. In one room, the pissed off coyote, and out in the hallway, the seething panther. How Gabriel thought this was a good idea was beyond her.

"I'm going to turn that cunt inside out!" Gabriel had better stop her before she got to that door, because she was going to blow it sky high, along with half the apartment complex, trying to get to Mercy.

[vw_coyote]

Magic.

She had gone to curl up under her bead with Mei and the cats when she smelled it.

Mercy's hackles rose. She knew exactly where it was coming from too. A growl started in her throat and she slunk out from under the bed, staring at the front door.

Her ears pinned back and her belly scraped low to the ground as she slowly moved forward. Magic didn't work on her. Not the way it was supposed to anyway. Hell, even Gabriel had had a hard time turning her back. There were things about walkers that she didn't understand, but she was coming to realize more and more.

Magic didn't work on her. Not in the traditional sense. Mercy took another stalking step forward. She was poised near enough to the door that should it get blown in, she could avoid getting hit and still have a straight shot at the bitch's throat.

Mercy didn't have any any more. The only thing left right now was the coyote.

[painhumbles]

"Ladies!" Gabriel snapped, knowing instinctively Mercy had come to the door in full fursuit regalia. With no sense of self-preservation at all, he threw himself at Jinx. It was going to hurt. It was going to hurt a fucking lot, but if she broke down that door, there'd be a mess and he wasn't planning on picking up anyone's entrails tonight. Later, he'd apologize to Mercy. Later.

If he cared more about Mercy, he would have snapped Jinx away and gone to pet the coyote shifter until her fur had smoothed out and she could regain human shape, but it was Jinx he lunged at, risking getting uncomfortably hexed, and before he could register any amount of consequences to him, Jinx, or the damn city, he flew off. It was different than before- cliche though it might be, there might have been a small sensation of wings being unfolded, but that was just Gabriel's Grace throwing itself out like a lifeline to protect the two of them from the counterflow of Jinx's energy- oh, it was still going to hurt him, but he didn't care. He could take it.

Now if he could just avoid making this look like he was taking a bullet for Mercy and not keeping Jinx from making a mistake he'd regret... Things might not explode further.

Well, maybe in the literal sense, since he had no idea what that sudden teleport would really do to Jinx's powers, but that didn't mean he'd let go of her anytime soon- not until she calmed down or he got hit by the hex.

[hexyoutotuesday]

One second, Jinx was consumed with rage, about to cause a murder scene in Anna's apartment. It was like she was taking after Sander, except there wasn't going to be enough of Mercy left to be artistic. All that power was focused on the door, then a second later...impact and SPLASH!

Note to self, the Canadian ocean was fucking freezing in May. The second they hit the water, she fought with all of her might to get Gabriel off her and make it to the surface. One of them actually had to breathe, thank you. For a moment she panicked, remembering that she hadn't the first clue how to swim, but she soon realized they were close enough to the shore that she could just stand up. Her hair and makeup were ruined, her dress clung to every curve and dip in her body, and she was sopping wet.

Shaking like a leaf in the wind, she screamed, "GABRIEL!" It sounded about as confused as angry as she looked around, water hitting her at the hips. Her heels sank into the silt below her. A million things ran through her mind, but the two most prominent ones were did I get her? and oh shit, my baby.

She remembered hexing something before this happened, she just didn't know what. Oh, she hoped it was Mercy's front door. God, let Mercy be the injured one. "BABY!?"

[painhumbles]

Two things registered to Gabriel. One: Large chest cavity wounds bleed a lot and dear God, there better not be sharks in Canada.

Two: HOLY FUCKING SHIT. SALT WATER IN WOUNDS HURTS LIKE A MOTHERFUCK.

It didn't take him long to recover enough to flail around and splash like he was drowning, which, honestly, if he was going to attract potential sharks that would be the way to do it. When he surfaced, however, he calmed himself... Or made a very valiant attempt to, as his entire body kind of hurt.

A normal person... Would be dead, however, so he counted his blessings and just stared at Jinx with half-lidded eyes, panting and trying to ignore the amount of blood in the water. "So we should probably not do the whole suburban 'invite the neighbors for barbecue' thing when we move, huh?"

That said, he wobbled and promptly fell backwards into the water.... He'll be fine. He floats and everything, although floating would expose how badly he was hurt and while salt water stung, he really didn't need Jinx feeling guilty because she hexed him. Accidentally.

[hexyoutotuesday]

Once she got the brains to stop splashing around looking for him, she heard his failure at recovering and whipped around to see him. It was suddenly like a big weight was taken off her chest. He was okay. Or at least okay enough to make snarky remarks. Oh god. Which meant that she probably killed his friend, or at least destroyed her home. Shit. Why did that bitch have to deserve it? Why did Gabriel think this was a good idea in the first place? He should know there was a reason Trauma was his best girlfriend.

She was about to respond to him (knowing her, with more yelling,) but watching him topple over into the water made her completely lose her train of thought. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!"

Frantic, she waded her way over to him as quickly as she could. It was so cold. Her teeth were chattering and she wasn't sure if her lack of clothing was making it better or worse. She did her best to grab him up and pull his head above water. Lungs filled with water was not a pleasant feeling, whether or not he actually needed to breathe. It was a difficult scent to catch with the overpowering ocean aroma clogging her senses, but when it finally hit her, she knew exactly what it was. That was blood. And there was blood in the water around them. And on her as she tried to hold him up.

Well, it looks like Mercy would live to see another day, but the bone crushing guilt of this might just kill Jinx.

"Baby, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. What did I do? Where did I hurt you? Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck--why are you so stupid, baby? I didn't mean to--" It was hard to talk with her teeth chattering. Harder to hold him with hands so cold they were numb. "Angel, I never wanted to hurt you. Oh god, oh god..."

[painhumbles]

Gabriel grabbed a hold of Jinx's shoulders to steady himself, trying to logic out the usually hard to handle fact of This Is Not Actually Your Body, Your Grace Is Fine, Suck It Up. It was especially hard with salt water rubbing against the open wound. But he needed to put on a show that he was fine- which he was- and that's what he had to do.

"Jinx, Jinx, Jinx," he tried to call over her for a few seconds before she finally decided to stop panicking. "I'm okay. It's not your fault. I took one for the team. It'll be fine." He looked down at the blood, noticed that Jinx was shaking, and then looked back up at her again. "We should probably get out of the water before this whole scenario turns into even more of a bad B movie."

See? Fine. Ignore the gaping hole in his chest cavity. That will heal.

[hexyoutotuesday]

Only Jinx could go from upset and panicked to wanting to drown her boyfriend in under ten seconds. "Took one for the team?" she half shouted. Maybe the panic was still there, but it only made her anger worse. The cold wasn't helping her mood, either. "Who's team are you even on?"

Getting out of the water was less of a priority than reprimanding the injured man in her arms. If she died of hypothermia, at least she would die knowing that she put her boyfriend in his place beforehand. "You're willing to take a bullet for that trailer park slut after the way she treated me? I hope a jellyfish makes its home in your ass, sleazebag!"

With that, she shoved him away from her and began trudging to the shore. This was a difficult task in her stilettos, which she was now positive were ruined. Oh, she was still worried about Gabriel. Still felt guilty that she hurt him. So damn guilty it was eating her alive. But insecurity was a powerful, and ironic, force. Acting like a bitch and telling him to die was the only way she knew how to express how damn scared she was by the events of this evening.