Won't you be my neighbor? [Roy/Mercy/Leon]

[ROY THEOREN]

Moving was usually a huge production, from what Roy remembered as a child, but lucky for him he didn't have much to move. There were a few plastic tubs of personal effects and clothing, a couple boxes of chipped and miss-matched dishes, another box of small household appliances, and the few pieces of furniture he'd managed to acquire during his short time in the city. He didn't even have a television yet, though he did have a decent stereo system and a laptop. Everything he owned fit into the small van he'd rented, though he probably could have made do with a few trips in a car--if he'd had a car. As it was, it only took him a couple of hours to pack up, haul, and move most of his things across the city by himself, with a bit of help from one of his drinking buddies to wrestle the bed and other large furniture through doorways.

Once everything was in behind closed doors, Roy returned the truck and set about cleaning and unpacking boxes. It didn't take long, as everything was more or less in the room where it belonged, and there wasn't much anyway. The apartment was far bigger than his old one, and for less rent (which was amazing, in this city), and the size of it threw into sharp relief how little furniture he had. He needed a proper couch, maybe a few potted plants to make the place more homey. As he started writing down a list of things to pick up, he realized he had no food in his kitchen. Well, takeaway and whatever he could scrounge from the corner mart would have to do until he found the nearest grocery store.

...

Roy juggled plastic shopping bags and one large paper bag full of steaming Thai food as he fished his keys out of his pocket. He heard a door open behind him, and as he automatically glanced over his shoulder at the sound, he dropped the keys.

"Bollocks," he said, giving up the fight with the shopping and setting the bags on the floor to pick up the keys. Then, realizing he'd probably made a poor impression on whoever had just come out of the apartment across the hall, he turned around and smiled. "Hello, sorry, pardon my French. I'm Roy. Guess we're neighbors now."

And... wow. This flat certainly had a nicer view than his last one.

[MERCY REGIUS]

There had been a bit of a commotion in the hallway for the last few hours, and as Mercy was taking the rare moment to sit on her ass and stare at the TV, this was highly unwelcome. All she wanted to do was watch her Downton Abbey in peace (wrapped up as she was in the Anna/Mr. Bates plot--those two were perfect together), but the constant opening and closing of doors, man grunts, and cursing was getting to be a bit much for Mercy. Not usually one to sit back and take this sort of neighborly abuse, Mercy had just made up her mind to investigate the goings-on, when all telltale distractions had ceased, and the only thing to be heard was the sweet sweet sound of Mr. Bates' calm voice. Mercy nodded to herself and turned back to her program, Leon was doing god knows what, and things were back to normal.

But after two hours of BBC America had passed without her previously noticing, Mercy decided she probably ought to do something with her day, and there was, apparently, a new neighbor to greet. At least, that's what it had sounded like--the loud laughing of two men, the schlepping of boxes, the calls back and forth about how best to maneuver a mattress through the doorway. All signs pointed to the apartment across the hall having finally been let, and Mercy had half a mind, now that things had settled down, to scope the place out.

As she switched off the TV and unfolded herself from the comfortable nest she had made on the couch, Mercy wondered if the two voices were indicative of two men living there, or if it was perhaps a moving buddy. One of them sounded crass, whatever their situation, and she found herself hoping that if it were a gay couple moving in, they wouldn't be... loud. If you know what I mean.

Mercy slipped on a pair of flats that she kept by the door for the sole purpose of ducking out for a moment or two for whatever reason (usually to pick up the mail if Leon had not gotten there first, things of that nature), and together with her dark leggings under one of Leon's baggier sweatshirts (cinched cutely with one of her belts, of course), she opened the door to poke her head out into the hallway.

And very promptly Mercy knew three things about their new neighbor:
1. If British TV had taught her nothing else, the word the man uttered was extremely vulgar (but she found she could forgive anything with that accent),
2. It was very decidedly only one man, and,
3. As he leaned over to fetch his keys, it was revealed he was also extremely fit.

Not bad.

Mercy beamed as the man straightened and turned around, coming out of the apartment just enough to lean on the wall next to their door. He introduced himself as Roy, guessed they were neighbors now, and she promptly returned with "Looks like. I'm Mercy. I'd offer a hand to shake, but it looks like yours are a little full." She gestured to the shopping bags he set on the floor, which, admittedly, were not actually in his hands, but had every opportunity to be. She didn't really want to disturb his moving in and/or eating, so she left it merely at that.

[ROY THEOREN]

"What, this? Psssh, nah, I've got it." He nudged at the bags negligently with the toe of his boot. Leaving his keys dangling in the lock, he crossed the hall and offered a friendly hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Mercy. Hope all my banging about hasn't bothered you. Should be quiet now that I've bunged the elephants out." He winked, making his cheesy joke officially cheesier.

And as if to prove his ultimate cheesiness, he swept a bow over her hand and mimed a kiss just above her knuckles-- though he didn't actually touch her hand with his lips. The effect was not as creepy or weird as it could have been, as the gesture seemed to come to him naturally.

(Actually, it was all he could do to keep himself from taking a knee before her and pledging his undying allegiance. Honestly, where had that come from, all of a sudden?)

As he straightened back up, he grinned at her to disguise the sudden uneasy sense that he was addressing royalty. He had slightly crooked teeth, but a good smile, honest and using his whole face as a canvas. "Listen, I've just picked up some Thai, if you'd care for dinner. Place is a bit spartan, but I'm keen to try out my new kitchen table."

[MERCY REGIUS]

Mercy chuckled a little as Roy dismissed his grocery bags, watching as he crossed to her side of the hallway with a cheesy grin and cheesier lines. She laughed outright then, when he had confirmed he had "bunged out" all the elephants, and assured him (a bit falsely, but she was being polite) that he hadn't bothered her at all. She opened her mouth to say more when he was suddenly bowing in front of her, making as if to kiss her hand in a manner that harkened to ye olden days of yore.

And was it odd to admit to herself that she had... been expecting that?

As he looked up at her, he too seemed to pause. Mercy could only look down at him, her eyes a little wide, as he held her hand delicately. She felt a wave of "rightness" as he did that, that this was something she should really expecting upon anyone's coming into her presence. And again, Mercy felt herself start at the absolute vanity of it all. She'd always known she was vain, but this was just ridiculous.

But time seemed to catch up with her again. Roy had was standing and grinning widely at her. It took Mercy a moment before returning with a small "The pleasure's all mine," but Roy had moved passed it (whatever it was) smoothly, his toothy grin a preface to an interesting proposal. "Listen," he started, just as Mercy was beginning to feel she could come to really appreciate that all-encompassing smile, and Roy finished off rather smoothly asking her over to share some Thai food over what was apparently a new kitchen table. Mercy smiled widely at him in return, but her smile was close-lipped and shone with decidedly less wattage.

"That's very sweet," she began, tucking her hands behind her back and leaning again on the wall, "but I think I'd better leave you to your unpacking for the moment." She wasn't sure if his offer was more friendly or more hopeful, but she didn't want to immediately put him off. Quite honestly she wanted to keep him talking just to hear him say anything in that accent. "Unless of course this alleged kitchen table has room for one more," Mercy added to make her 'status' more clear, gesturing with a nod toward the open door to her apartment. It was indicative of another person inside, and it just so happened that Leon had made a loud-ish noise at just that moment. What timing.

Mercy looked at him again with a smile, torn between wanting to continue talking to him and letting him put his stuff away. She'd let him decide for himself.

[ROY THEOREN]

That pervasive sense that he was not just looking at his new neighbor through his own eyes, but the eyes of the Other inside him, was starting to bother him. Why did this gorgeous woman seem to be inspiring such déjà vu in him? There was the slim chance, of course, that he'd actually met her at some point before-- Roy was no stranger to meeting beautiful women-- but he couldn't quite place her in his memory, and he was usually pretty good with faces if not names.

My Queen, the Other inside him exalted, but the feelings that accompanied this were a confusing mix of absolute devotion, guilt, and horror. It was a deeply uncomfortable experience. Roy was almost relieved when Mercy declined his invitation, indicating that she had another person in her apartment with her. Ah, a boyfriend then, or husband, though he hadn't noticed a ring. That didn't necessarily mean unmarried, though, in this modern age. Maybe even a girlfriend or wife. He wasn't judging. Heck, he was an equal opportunity sort himself. And why wouldn't she be taken? It would have been more surprising if she weren't, gorgeous as she was.

"Oh, well, I suppose I wasn't planning for three," he demurred with an apologetic shrug, accepting the decline gracefully. "Though maybe once I'm a bit more settled in, I'll invite you both over for a proper dinner. I'm not a bad cook." He winked, but he'd scaled back from his automatically flirtatious mode to a more generically "friendly neighbor" attitude. "Suppose I'd best get this inside before it's cold. Again, pleasure meeting you, Mercy, and I hope I'll--"

He paused, catching a glimpse of the other person in the apartment through the open door. A startled laugh escaped him. "Leon? Well, call me a silly bugger! Hahaha, I didn't realize I'd be right across the hall from you!"

[MERCY REGIUS]

Mercy would admit she was grateful that Roy didn't acknowledge any... strangeness... if he had indeed felt something offbeat himself, and Mercy made a concentrated effort to move on. She smiled at him again as he took her decline in stride, and really there was no harm done. Mercy was beginning to look forward to his living across the hall, figuring he'd be one for pleasant conversation (or just a pleasing voice and countenance, if nothing else). He made a friendly invitation to eventually invite them both over at a time when he was more settled in, which Mercy said she looked forward to. "Whenever you're settled, I'm sure we'd love to have you over as well," she chirped brightly, and then admitted, "but I won't pretend to be any sort of cook whatsoever." She smiled again at him and figured this was probably the end of the conversation.

She was right. Roy was just beginning to make his excuses to return to his apartment, and Mercy was nodding, and "Of course"-ing and about to go back inside herself, when he suddenly stopped short. With one hand reaching for the door, Mercy also paused... as Roy said probably the last thing she ever expected. "Leon?"

Mercy blinked. She hadn't mentioned Leon's named during the course of the short introduction, so the only conclusion was that Roy knew Leon. But--this was New York. One did not just "run into" people in a city this size, and Mercy didn't think Leon had really had the chance to make good friends with anyone in New York once they'd moved. He was gone often, and then when he was back, he had been pretty well occupied with learning how to be blind in the city. So Roy knew Leon... from back in Connecticut?

"...I didn't realize I'd be right across the hall from you!" Roy finished with a laugh, and Mercy actually started with surprise. Eyes wide and brows climbing ever higher up her forehead, Mercy opened the door to their apartment wider to look at Leon as Roy had obviously spotted him. She waited only an instant before recognition registered on Leon's face, and was only another instant after that the familiar, hot, sickening feeling of anger and jealously gripped her chest.

So not did Leon know this guy, but he'd made arrangements, some how, for him to move in across the hall--and he didn't think to tell her? Mercy, no matter how irrational it seemed, was a creature of habit and possession and generally liked to be informed of developments as big as new neighbors--especially ones with connections to Leon. Her Leon.

Mercy took a quiet breath and said nothing, simply waiting for Leon to explain on his own. She didn't need to push him--really, right now she just needed to focus on keeping her face from betraying her frustration.

[LEON NOEL]

Surprisingly, Leon wasn't really a jealous person. He naturally wouldn't stand for someone being all kinds of involved with Mercy because they were most definitely together, but he didn't mind her talking to other people, even men. He trusted her that way, and that was actually one of the few things that he was secure in, even if he didn't understand why she stayed with him. He figured that if she ever got to the point that she couldn't stand being with him, she'd tell him and they might fight and it might get rough, but he didn't think he had to worry about her sleeping with someone behind his back. It wasn't even one of those things that he just knew, either, though that would have been a pretty simple thing to figure out if he'd thought of it. He didn't consider it. Thus, when he heard her talking to someone and the responses in a lower, obviously masculine vocal range, he was more curious than concerned, especially when he finished putting the dishes away and realized that the conversation was going on longer than a simple hello in the hall. He'd heard the banging around all morning, but for whatever reason, it didn't immediately occur to him who it was.

Not until he cracked his knee on an end table, cursed, and then heard his name in a louder, questioning tone, to which he answered with a simple affirmative. Wait, what? The voice went on, the confusion plain on his own face, and then it clicked. Roy. Roy had moved in that quickly? Damn, he hadn't been playing around when he asked.

Leon made his way over to the door more quickly, reaching out for Mercy only when he could smell her perfume and the lighter, fresh shampoo smell off of her hair, and then he found the small of her back and let his hand rest there once he'd stepped up beside her. He liked being aware of just where she was. Actually, he liked knowing where anyone he was talking to happened to be, but Mercy was the only person he had an excuse to really reach out for, and so he was just fine doing it. He wasn't sure if she liked it, but she never seemed to mind the casual, frequent touches, so he didn't stop.

"Roy? When you said you were looking for a place to move, I didn't think it would be that fast," he offered, still definitely surprised. "Mercy, Roy and I were friends in high school, we joined the Air Force together, then got split up after awhile. He scared the hell out of me at the gym a few days ago and asked if there were any apartments available."

The explanation had two purposes, both to let Mercy know how they knew each other, and to clarify the information process that had gone on. Leon hadn't consciously offered Roy a place near them, but automatically listed it as a possibility among the others. He didn't mind, but he would have told her if he'd known for sure where Roy was moving. Had Roy told him? Shit, hopefully he hadn't texted. With texting as popular as it was, people sometimes forgot that he couldn't read them, and unless Mercy took a look for him, he didn't always even realize he had one. Not that it happened often, since he really didn't have all that many friends. Getting used to the change in lifestyle had required effort, and so he hadn't put that effort into searching out friends in the city. It was one of the reasons he'd been so pleased to run into Roy, for sure, but he still hadn't expected it to be so quick.

Good for Roy. Man was efficient, which Leon appreciated.

[ROY THEOREN]

It wasn't much, but Roy was observant when it came to non-verbal communication, and he caught the briefest flash of jealousy and something like anger amidst Mercy's confusion. Oops. Well, he hadn't exactly mentioned that he knew someone named Leon on this floor, or even let Leon know he was moving in that day-- to be honest, it had been news him as well, but the landlord at his old building had just given him a week's notice because the place was being condemned for failing to meet health code standards. So it had been a lucky thing Leon had mentioned this place, and Roy had been able to nab an apartment quickly and with an unusual lack of fuss. Roy would have called and let him know, but he thought it might be fun to surprise him. He certainly sounded surprised, anyway. So did his girlfriend.

Definitely girlfriend. Neither of them wore rings, and Roy assumed Leon would have told him if he'd been married. The way he reached for her as he came to the door spoke of a fairly intimate relationship, though. Roy felt a tiny flash of jealousy himself, but not directed toward either of them as individuals. More of a general coveting of what they had. Roy hadn't really hooked up with anyone since his return to the States, nothing serious, anyway. He was admittedly a little bit lonely.

But hey, now he had Leon and Mercy as neighbors! That was going to be grand, right?

"Surprise!" Roy laughed apologetically. "No, sorry, I really did mean to call, but I had to leave my old flat in a hurry. They're going to have it torn down. I called up this place on a lark, and the manager here said I could move in right away, so... here I am. Bit short notice, I know. Thanks for the tip, though. If it weren't for you, I'd be sleeping rough tonight."

He cast an appreciative glance over Mercy again, not so obvious as to be ogling, but enough to make it clear that he approved of Leon's choices. "Just met the lovely Mercy. Well done, Lee. Try not to scare this one off, eh?" That last bit was teasing, and not really a question, but Roy felt a jolt of worry that he'd inadvertently done that thing where Leon would have to answer him. Oops, again.

[MERCY REGIUS]

Mercy kept her eyes trained on a spot just above Roy's left shoulder as she heard Leon approaching, and couldn't help bristling in irritation when his hand found her back. Normally, Mercy quite liked the way Leon was always touching her in order to ground himself and keep track of where she was--it made her feel a little less crazy overbearing when he did that, and really, most any time Leon's fingers brushed her skin made her blush like a virgin. Now was not one of those times.

Leon very quickly explained his and Roy's knowing each other, though, which helped to calm Mercy down enough to relax more into his hand. High school friends, he'd said... Perhaps there was a chance that Mercy had actually met Roy before, then, and simply didn't remember? Maybe not--she didn't intentionally seek out the company of Leon's friends when it was Leon himself she was after, especially not with Charlie always on her mind back then. But Leon continued that they'd been in the Air Force together for a while, eventually split up, and miraculously met up again. It sounded like a long shot, but weirder things had happened (Leon was a living, breathing example of weirder things happening, but Mercy kept that to herself). Perhaps Roy had gotten nostalgic and looked him up--for whatever reason. Mercy was laboring under the impression that Roy was still in the service, and couldn't at this point fathom what he was doing in New York.

This was all considered in a moment as Leon finished, saying he had mentioned the empty apartment to Roy. She supposed that was harmless, but still, Mercy was surprised Leon hadn't mentioned running into his old friend to her before. She considered it pretty significant news, but then maybe to Leon it just... wasn't. Mercy wasn't about to entertain the idea that Leon neglected to mention it on purpose.

Mercy felt the hot grip of anger ease, but she was still plenty jealous of Roy's relationship with Leon. Up until now, Mercy had been the only one in New York who had the most history with Leon, and discovering new-neighbor-Roy's connection to him trumped her own made her feel marginalized. Even if the connection was just that they'd grown up together and gone through basic training and all that, whereas she had the intimacy of being rather more directly involved, Mercy was still displeased at coming in second place. But all she said to Leon was "Oh," and didn't feel like getting into anything in front of Roy.

It was Roy who picked it up from there. Mercy finally tore her gaze from the spot on the wall to look Roy in the face, suddenly embarrassed at their initial conversation. She would have liked to have been clued in about the whole affair, and the longer Roy's explanation continued, the more Mercy felt out of the loop. "Out of the loop" was not a feeling Mercy enjoyed in the slightest, but she managed to keep her manner looking interested and not accusatory. Well, she tried, but no doubt there was some clue or other as to her irritation. She just hoped it wasn't overwhelming or obvious.

So, taking a moment to calm herself, Mercy almost missed the approving glance Roy gave her, his eyes saying quite a lot. Mercy quirked a brow back at him and couldn't decide whether to be pissed at his audacity or not... Though much to her surprise, she found herself actually appreciating it. Leon used to look at her in a similar way, and Mercy hated that she missed being looked at like that. If there was one thing she got in her job, it was looks, but this felt... Different. It felt good.

She dropped her gaze then, guilty at having perhaps smiled a little at Roy in return. To make up for it, Mercy curled into Leon's side as Roy instructed him to try not and scare her off, stretching her neck to kiss his cheek. "He couldn't if he tried," she said sweetly, looking over Leon's face. "And he already has." She laughed quietly a little and wrapped her arms around him, before turning back to Roy.

"That's terrible about your apartment, Roy," Mercy offered in an effort to force herself feeling the effects of that jealous/rage/guilt cocktail she'd downed too quickly. "But I'm glad you were able to find a place so quickly! And by someone you already know. What luck!" The last part was maybe a touch forced, but it did lend itself pretty easily to her next question. "How is it you ended up in New York, anyway?"

[LEON NOEL]

It was really sad how much of this interaction Leon was missing because he couldn't see their expressions and body language, but he'd felt the way Mercy's body stiffened when he touched her, and he'd almost backed off. He actually would have if she hadn't relaxed a little at his explanation, and his brows knit together in confusion at the reaction. What was wrong? Did she not like Roy? Had he done something wrong? If he had, he didn't know what, but now he was paying attention, and he'd figure it out. He was at a disadvantage, but he was smart. Unless Mercy was careful and really just didn't want him to know, he could manage it.

It didn't even occur to him that she might be upset that he hadn't mentioned Roy, or that she could ever be jealous of a friend of his potentially having more ties to him than she did, all things considered. He'd been fully prepared to marry her, had even picked out a ring and had it pulled from the case to be purchased upon his arrival back in the States from the African mission, but things hadn't gone according to plan. Besides his own problems, he hadn't dared go through with the proposal when he wasn't sure he could stand himself, nevermind ask her to do it. Besides, so soon after the injury, he didn't want her to feel obligated. He still intended to marry her if she'd have him, but he wanted some time so that she had the chance to escape if she wanted to. The last thing he wanted was to trap her.

How ironic was it that she was jealous of a friend's ties to him, and the only reason he hadn't married her yet was because he thought she wouldn't want him? He was fucking hopeless, seriously.

"Wow, lucky timing, then. Glad it worked out, that could have been pretty nasty," he offered, a little impressed by the timing himself. Things so rarely worked out that well, but it was a nice change. Maybe Roy was just a lucky kind of guy, and if so, Leon hoped some of it rubbed off. He also hoped the random unintended questions would fade out, too, since Roy dropped another that Leon grit his teeth against, tensing up a little, and nodded through Mercy's response for. He relaxed once more under her touch, releasing a long breathe and nodded once more. "Yeah, I guess I kind of did try. Not doing that again, if I can help it."

There was no denying the strangeness of the situation, Mercy curling against him and kissing his cheek the way she did at Roy's comment and the tone in her voice as she repeated his sentiment about the luck of the situation, and Leon couldn't help wondering if there was something he was missing. Having Roy point out how lovely Mercy was didn't bother him so much as it made him a little upset that he couldn't see the view Roy had right now, but he wasn't concerned about Roy in the slightest. He just missed some things, and while he'd tried to replace them with others (like seeing her face with smelling her perfume and feeling how soft her skin was), the trade-off didn't always feel even. He didn't even know that Mercy herself missed having him look at her the way Roy was, but knowing it would have just fueled his existing belief that there were things she wanted that he couldn't be for her, and that wasn't something he needed confirmation of, thanks.

[ROY THEOREN]

"Oh yes, Mister Lucky, that's me," Roy agreed cheerfully. "Just discharged a few months back, they sent me to New York, and I just sort of stayed on here. Been drifting about ever since. But, here I am."

There was some tension here, and though Roy couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, he had a guess that Mercy wasn't as happy with this "surprise" as she was letting on. He wondered if it had something to do with the fact that they both confirmed that Leon had tried to scare her off already, and it didn't really sound like a joke. Awk...ward. Not to mention the fact that she smiled right back at him as he was checking her out. Perhaps their relationship was having some troubles? It wasn't really Roy's place to ask, but it did seem to be his cue to leave.

"I should probably get the shopping in," he excused himself, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder. "Cheers, Leon, Mercy." With a polite nod to Mercy and a pat on Leon's shoulder, he retreated to his own apartment. The bags were all scooped up and dumped onto his kitchen table, which wasn't actually all that new, but it was new to him.

"That... was deeply strange," he muttered into the empty spaces of his flat. He needed some time to sort out the weirdness he'd been dealing with these past few days. The Other had never been so active before, not since he'd first Awakened within Roy's psyche. He had no idea what to do about it, either. Hell, he didn't even know if Leon and Mercy were aware of the fact that they caused this reaction in him. There was a deeper connection here than any of them could define, and it drew Roy like a moth to a flame.

[MERCY REGIUS]

Mercy's brows raised quickly at "discharged," but Roy didn't offer any further explanations, and she knew better than to ask. Her mind strayed to consider the the circumstances of the discharge, and she quickly scanned his frame for any sign of injury. Had he been wounded? Or was it something less "honorable"? Mercy's gaze was dropped to his feet as she wondered, but soon Roy was picking up his groceries and begging leave.

Oh. So they were done. Mercy blinked her gaze back up to him, a little surprised at his abrupt departure, but she managed a warm smile back at him. She untangled herself from Leon and returned with a quick "Good to meet you!" before Roy patted Leon's shoulder and disappeared inside his apartment.

The door closed and Mercy's smile was quickly dropped. She was first back into their apartment and after swiftly toeing off her shoes, made a beeline for the couch. She sank heavily into it, grabbed a pillow and wrapped her arms tightly around it, frowning into its plush. To delay the conversation she knew was coming, she clicked on the TV but wasn't really watching it. She wasn't paying much attention to anything, actually, as was evident from the sounds of the British show Top Gear (a show about cars. Why would Mercy care about a show about cars), and Mercy hadn't changed the channel.

There was a lot going on in her at the moment. She fretted, primarily, over Roy's moving in and Leon's silence about the encounter. She worried about the look he had given her, even if friendly meant, and the smile she'd given him in return. She worried about how much she was overreacting, and how she'd been feeling really strange this week, and how much Roy's sudden arrival and his ties with Leon and everything just piling up and and and.

If there was one thing Mercy hated about apartments, it was that you couldn't scream without the neighbors calling the cops.

So Mercy sort of fumed quietly into the pillow, brooding selfishly and as she considered how best to deal with... all this. Everything that was going on. God, it wasn't even anything that bad. But apparently to Mercy it was earth shattering, catastrophic news that obviously meant her years-long relationship with Leon was ending. Obviously. Mercy just clutched the pillow harder and waited for the inevitable.

[LEON NOEL]

Roy cut a pretty hasty exit, and really, Leon wasn't so sure that he could blame him, since something was definitely going on. The problem was that Leon himself wasn't entirely sure what it was, so he couldn't even help Roy out with it. Was it confirming that he'd tried to chase her off? That couldn't be it, they'd gotten over that, hadn't they? It wasn't even that he'd consciously tried, but for a bit after his injury, he'd been pretty miserable. It was a terrible thing to have to adapt to, and just because he was a highly adaptable individual didn't mean that he wasn't really messed up by it. It was made worse by the fact that he'd also taken that shot to the leg, so in the beginning, he was newly blind and also in pain trying to get around. It had been hell, and Mercy had been upset, as well. His frustration and generally misery had been depressing and he couldn't honestly say that he hadn't taken any of it out on her. They'd fought a lot, and though they didn't fight like that anymore and hadn't for quite some time, they still had their spats. The fact that she hadn't left him during that period had to count for something, which he hoped, but there was no denying that it had been hard.

Actually, he still felt guilty about it, and yes, he still got frustrated and cranky, but he tried not to be as much of an asshole, especially to her. He might never get over some of his issues with this, but he was getting better all the time, and pushing harder at eliminating the stress that he knew he had to be on Mercy. That wasn't fair to her that she had to deal with him and his problems, so the more independent he could be, the better, right?

He thought so, but he obviously wasn't far enough along just yet. Roy's exit had left him and Mercy extracted herself from Leon's touch when Roy had patted him on the shoulder, so Leon was temporarily completely unaware of just where Mercy was. He stood there in the doorway like a moron for a second, brows knitting together as he listened and finally reached out in the direction she'd last been and found...nothing. The sound of the television clicking on behind him startled him into twisting around, and he locked the door handle, shut it, and made his way into the living room. Unlike Mercy, though, he didn't drop into the couch, but ran his hands along the back of it until his fingers brushed against her hair and stopped.

This was where he hesitated. What was going on? Roy had gotten all awkward and disappeared, then Mercy had completely taken off on him, which wasn't really like her. It was moments like this that fed his belief that she occasionally moved things, or just didn't bother to put them back right, when something was bothering her. Usually, she'd at least touch his arm, or tell him she was heading back in, or something other than just leaving him there. Really, he had to stop hanging out with people who were light-footed, since it was obviously always causing him trouble. At least she didn't scream, though. If she had, she would have scared the living hell out of him and he probably would have thought someone was in the apartment, or something. She didn't, so he was spared the heart attack, but that still didn't fix whatever was happening.

"Mercy, what's wrong?" he asked, voice soft as he brushed her hair away from her shoulder, fingers trailing through it. One thing that had drastically changed since he'd lost his eyesight was the touching, and even he realized it. He couldn't see her, but if he touched her, at least it was close. Her hair was silky and nice, her skin soft, and he enjoyed that. He really only indulged as much as he wanted when they were in bed (and even then, he tried to disguise it simply as sex), but he liked touching her and rebuilding his mental picture of her. He didn't like that something was obviously upsetting her, or that he didn't know what it was.

[MERCY REGIUS]

Alright alright alright. This was just ridiculous. Granted, a lot had happened this week, but that was no excuse for Mercy to get all bent out of shape about something as frankly good for Leon as meeting up with his old friend. Why couldn't she just shut up and be happy for him? She wasn't going to be replaced by Roy, and it was probably wearing more than a little thin for Leon's main interactions to be with her. Lord knows she would get tired of her own repetitive, predictable company day after day. It was quite amazing Leon hadn't dropped dead from boredom yet.

That said, though, Mercy would have thought that such a change in his routine would have elicited some sort of response out of him. Roy certainly seemed to be able to banish any sort of monotony--Mercy had known him all of three minutes and look at her now. She could only guess at the sort of way his offer would have ended if it wasn't for Leon; Roy was, in the brief seconds she'd talked with him, found to be incredibly charming and seemed to play into exactly those crazy egocentric tendencies that Mercy lived on. And she had been pretty flattered when he asked her in, she wasn't about to deny that. Mercy curled her fingers into the pillow when she thought that, ashamed. It was only for a second, really, but the very act of her entertaining these thoughts made her feel like she was being false to Leon.

And over his friend, no less. Mercy could certainly be a class act.

Why hadn't he just told her about Roy? Didn't he know by know how involved she liked to be? Couldn't he grant her that? Her mind briefly touched on the quick explanation Leon had offered in the hallway, but she couldn't remember if he'd said exactly when they had run into each other. Either way, he had plenty of time to have mentioned it. He could have said something.

This didn't seem to help ease her guilt and frustration, but thinking like this at least gave her an outlet. An unfair and cruel one, to be sure, but right now, Mercy just wanted to blame someone for something because she knew, she really did, how in the wrong she really was. Had she known what Leon was thinking when he came back in, locking the door behind him, she might have changed her tune. But hell, if she was too busy being caught up in her own disproportionate drama to even feel bad for abandoning Leon in the corridor, she absolutely wasn't going to notice how the subtleties of his movements was perhaps a clue to his confusion.

And confused he right to be. Roy had taken off the moment he suspected things had gotten awkward, Mercy had snuck back into their apartment like an inconsiderate jerk, and Leon hadn't even had the chance to react. He didn't see the tiny, pretty well one-sided exchange between Roy and Mercy that was the cause of Mercy's mind frying inside her skull, so had she taken the moment to think about it, she would have realized how unfair she was being. But she didn't care. She wouldn't care. Not yet. Right now she wanted to be mad at Roy as Leon's hand caught the back of the sofa, mad at Leon as his fingers found her hair, mad at herself when Leon spoke in soft words and lingered his touch on her shoulder.

The pillow muffled her words as she spoke them, quickly and snappishly, but not loud, never loud. "You didn't mention you'd met Roy again." Mercy drew her knees up to her chest and hated how pathetic she sounded. "It seems like kind of a big deal." She left it at that, too embarrassed and jealous and angry to go on.

[LEON NOEL]

Mercy wasn't giving herself enough credit if she really thought that she was boring to Leon, but the problem wasn't her presence, it was the lack of it. He got bored when she wasn't around because she was pretty much his only friend anymore. Roy wasn't going to replace her, but Leon was only just now starting to think that maybe he'd actually see the guy again. The way things had been broken off when they'd last spoken, he wasn't so sure, and he'd felt stupid about it later. It hadn't seemed worth mentioning, lest she get all worried and feel bad for scaring him like she had. He wouldn't have forgotten to get Roy's number or address if he hadn't been in such a rush, but it didn't matter; his friend lived across the hall now, and they'd exchange phone information. No big deal.

At least, he didn't think it was a big deal. It was exciting now, but Mercy and Roy had both been strange and left him alone in the hall, so he was more confused than thrilled right then. Obviously, he had no idea as to Roy's offer into his apartment, and honestly, he wouldn't have blamed Roy in the slightest; the last time he'd seen Mercy, she was gorgeous, and he couldn't feel any difference since. She was a good person, attractive and charming, so why wouldn't he invite her over? Roy was a flirt, so it made sense. Mercy being flattered wasn't entirely surprising, either, since Leon had always known Roy to be a charming bastard himself, so he didn't really understand the problem. He would have been pissed and insulted if Mercy had wanted to go with Roy, but being flattered? Not a big deal.

That was another reason that he hadn't really bothered to mention it. A lot had happened to distract him, he hadn't gotten contact information and why guilt her, but he also hadn't known that they would see each other or that it would matter if they did. He honestly hadn't considered the fact that Roy and Mercy might be attracted to each other or that it could be awkward afterwards. For such a smart guy, he hadn't thought about it. He did think about the fact that running his fingers through her hair and touching her wasn't the best idea when she didn't relax in the slightest and her words came out all snappish. His hand moved to the couch, mostly to keep track of where in the room he was (he'd gotten turned around during louder, more enthusiastic arguments than he hoped this would be), and sighed.

"Why are you mad? I met up with him at the gym and I was in a rush when I left him, so I didn't get his number or address. It wasn't like I expected him to move in across the hall like that," he told her, his own voice betraying a little irritation. Unfortunately, he never had to go far to find any of that within himself anymore; frustration was always just beneath the surface and itching for an outlet. He should have kept his voice level and been more interested in assuring her that it was nothing, but being a pushover had never been his style, and he really didn't see the problem here. "Isn't this a good thing? I mean, you've got to be sick of being stuck with just me all the time, cause I know that I'm sick of me, so shouldn't a friend be good? Maybe I'm just missing something."

Yeah, he was definitely missing something, but he didn't get what. Not yet.