Not the Surprise She Had Planned

Stories of the those from House Dragoon Talanador, the Company of the Dragon and the Tavern itself.

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Mercedes
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Not the Surprise She Had Planned

Post by Mercedes »

Evening of May 23rd

Deciding to surprise G with dinner, Merci stopped by a little Chinese place on her way to the docks. With a brown paper sack in one hand, and an overnight bag in the other, the model was trying to hurry her way through the docks area since it was quickly growing darker. She knew better than to be walking through here alone and had been warned about it on numerous occasions. Keeping her eyes averted from the leering stares and not responding to the various calls to her, whether it be to buy something or simply a loud raunchy comment bellowed out by some of the sailors.

Mercedes finally had G's ship in sight when she found herself being shoved to the ground from one side as someone tried to grab her bag from the other side. She clutched harder at the bag but failed to balance herself and prevent a fall. Spilling to the ground, she looked up just as a large fist connected with her jaw.

Blinking rapidly as her head snapped back, it took her a long moment to come out of the daze but by that time she was being yanked off of the ground. She finally had the good sense to start screaming, though in her moment of panic it was in her native Portuguese instead of Common.

There was that one moment in the struggle, where the first man continued to pull at her bag. The first mistake was attacking Merci. The second, grabbing the bag. The third, and maybe most minor, was that the Chinese food had undoubtedly suffered in this struggle. Needless to say, while the first man was struggling with her bag, he didn't see G'nort coming from behind or know he was there until he felt the vicious pull of his hair yanking his head back so that when he did see him, it was an upside down view.

The expression on G's face was anything but civilized, but that didn't really matter for the crook, because the moment G distracted him by pulling his head back, he let go of Merci and then found himself forcibly slammed into the nearest wall, face first, with a sickening splatter sound as his nose broke, as well as a few teeth.

This may have hurt the 'gentleman,' but it was repeated a second time, then a third, despite him having been made defenseless after the first strike. G let go of what was left of the fellow, then turned to face the second man, who was standing now with a look of stunned shock at how brutal the attack on his cohort was.

Adding to the effect of the incident, was the first man sliding down, the face sized streak of blood being all that was left on the wall. G took a step forward, reaching to his hip to slide a dagger free, which was all the second man needed before he quickly let go of Merci, screamed, and then turned tail to run.

"Oh no. There is no escape, here."

G then flipped the dagger in his hand so that he held it blade first, took a moment to judge the distance and then threw the weapon hard and fast so that it was hilt deep into the man’s back. He toppled quickly, still alive and yelling in pain, trying to pull the dagger free from himself. G calmly walked up to him, then knelt down, one knee on his lower back.

"These are the sorts of things you can expect when you attack or steal something of mine."

Then yanked the weapon none too gently, which caused the man to scream again. G wiped the blade of the dagger on the man's clothes, then stood, looking down and kicking him violently in the ribs before turning to walk back to Merci, putting the blade back at his hip. He reached out to pick her up, now moving very gently, trying to lift her chin up to see how much damage was caused to her.

"Merci? Mercedes, are you alright? Are you okay?" Softly, consolingly.


Mercedes, unsurprisingly, was trembling violently. She likely would have been even if the attack hadn’t brought back all of the terror she had experienced when the slavers abducted her and brought her to RhyDin. But it did bring it all back and she was finding it difficult to stop screaming. Seeing a man get his head smashed in and the other stabbed really hadn’t made matters any better for her mental well-being, though it had certainly done wonders for her physical well-being.

As G reached to pick her up, she shrank back from him a little, still dazed. She could see his mouth moving and hear words but she wasn’t connecting any of it right away. It finally dawned on her that he was asking if she was alright. His voice was soothing so she stopped trying to move away and allowed him to look at her jaw, that was already turning a nice deep purple and swelling. “I...I don’t know.”

"I...wanted to surprise you." Wide eyes looked at the sack laying next to her legs and then back up at him, still dazed. "I'm sorry."


"Well, I'm surprised. Come on. We need to get you inside where it's quiet and.." He takes a look around at the mess he made. The two people twitching nearby might not make her too comfortable when the shock starts to wear off. "...cleaner."

He bent over to pick her up in his arms, reaching for her bag and of course, the dinner. He shifted so that she would be as comfortable as possible, and if she needed to bury her face in his neck to cry or what have you, she could do so without embarrassment.

Hopefully, she wouldn't struggle against him. At least she recognized who he was and wasn't trying to run off. He could feel her shivering, knew how terrified she felt and knew he had to get her as isolated as possible with him, if just to make her feel safer. Although, she would likely not feel safe for quite a while.

"Don't apologize. It wasn't your fault. The docks just aren't that safe. There's just a lot of scum around here. You're safe now, you're with me. Don't worry, I have you." He was speaking with a soothing tone, quietly trying to reassure her and let her know that he would protect her.

She allowed him to lift her, wrapping her arms around his neck since she felt so unsteady. Lashes fluttered closed as she laid her head on his shoulder, though no tears came.

“I don’t...what would...how did you...” She couldn’t speak her questions, feeling panic rising even as she thought about the attack. It was just too soon to try to process it, instead she simply whispered.

“Thank you.”
Last edited by Mercedes on Fri May 25, 2012 10:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Mercedes
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Post by Mercedes »

"Shhh. Don't talk. Just relax. You'll be on the 'Jammer in no time." In fact, they were already walking up the ramp. Thankfully, he had left the door to the inside of the ship open when he'd come out to rescue her, so it was little time for him to bring her into the living area and quietly set her on the sofa. He laid her back, then set the bags on the floor and immediately reached up to begin brushing his fingers through her hair. "Give me a moment, I'll bring you something to drink. It'll help to steady your nerves."

Mercedes nodded, leaning back against the sofa with a sigh of relief. She knew where she was and she did feel considerably safer on board SpellJammer.

He smiled and pet her for a few more moments before finally getting up to head to the galley. He stood at the entryway a second or two to look back at her and make sure she was okay, then went down the hall, into the galley and searched for a clean glass. After finding one, he opened the cabinet that held the liquor. He chose a nice scotch, poured the glass half full and then went back to the living area, bringing the bottle with him. He approached her cautiously, not wanting to startle her at all when she is in this state, then knelt beside her, holding out the glass. "Here. This will make you feel a bit better. Drink it slow."

Merci tried to force a smile for him, seeing the concern on his face, but failed. She accepted the glass with a still shaking hand and had to use the other hand to steady the glass as it was brought to her lips. A small sip was taken and she winced a little. "I think I bit my tongue."

One of her hands lifted from the glass, which was now cradled against her belly, to gingerly touch her swollen jaw. Lips pursed for a moment, then she swallowed a bit roughly before looking at G. "How ugly am I? Tell the truth."

He reached up, taking hold of her jaw and lifting her face to inspect it. He smirks, knowing he shouldn't tease her as it was her line of work to be gorgeous, but he was still G. "Well, you're not a Cave Troll. But it's going to be swollen for a bit, the bruise won't last forever, though." He trailed his finger along her jaw softly. Then shook his head with a slight smile. "You're going to look fine. Doesn't seem to be any real damage on the outside. Just tell people you ran into a door or something." Softly chuckles as he pulls back, but still kneeling in front of her and placing his hands on her knees to rub slowly.

G being himself right now was probably the best medicine for Merci. She actually half laughed, then winced again. "Is it supposed to hurt this much and feel stiff?" Obviously he would know since he was such a roughneck kind of guy.

Merci stopped rubbing at her jaw and lay her hand near his, curling her fingers slightly. "Maybe I will tell them you hit your woman for being too sassy with you." Well, if her sense of humor was coming back, maybe she was going to be alright. That, or she was a magnificent actress that was trying to soothe him.

He took hold of her hand and closed around it, holding gently, yet firmly, supportively. He smiled softly and nodded. "Sometimes, it'll hurt worse. You're tougher than you look if you didn't get knocked out from a blow like that. It'll ache for a while, but some pain killers will soften the hurt"

He chuckled, relaxing a bit himself as she's trying to find some humor. Of course, he recognized it as a sort of defense mechanism so she wouldn't have to deal with the full impact of the attack right off. He was going to stay with her all night if he had to, he would be there for her.

Then he laughed. "Well, I've only ever hit a girl in the ring, to be honest. But if you want to tell people I did it, it'd be amusing to see what kind of reaction I get from the masses about it."

"It'll hurt worse?" Now she was whining a little.

"I thought I was going to pass out. My head got really dizzy and blurry and everything I heard sounded like it was in a tunnel. I can remember thinking that I couldn't pass out. I was so..." She puffed out her cheeks and exhaled slowly as if trying to force all of the anxiety out with her exhaled breath. The scotch was lifted for a healthy drink before being lowered by that shaking hand.

Her golden gaze finally lifted from where it had been cast downwards due to her shame at admitting fear. That gaze settled upon green eyes that were so gentle and kind, remembering vaguely, when they had been utterly cold and menacing; it nearly made her shiver. She finally spoke, voice soft.

"I was so scared. G, I don't ever want to feel that helpless again. I am tired of feeling helpless and having to depend on someone else to rescue me. Wh..what would have happened to me if you hadn't saved me?"


"No, if anything, it'll hurt less. It's a good sign that you remember everything you were feeling. Chances are you're not concussed." He took her hand with both of his now, rubbing slowly and letting her talk. He looked back into her eyes while listening to her. He shook his head slowly.

"Don't think about that. That line of thought leads to no good. Best thing now, is to just relax, put it out of your mind, and then consider what to do next so you don't ever have to be worried about it again. Okay?" He looks at her with the expression that tells her he wants her to understand this, that he wants her to be safe.

She nodded slightly, drawing a shaky breath. "Okay. You're right. I'll think about it tomorrow." Finishes off the glass of scotch and places the empty glass on the table in front of her.

"Is it alright if I take a hot bath and then go to sleep?"

"Absolutely. But so you know, I won't leave you tonight. I will be right outside the door while you bathe, and then I will sleep with you in bed tonight. And don't worry, I won't try anything." He nods as he continues to pet her hand.

She simply nodded again as she nervously rubbed at the torn fabric at the knee of her pants and then stood on shaky legs; her hand sliding slowly from his.

”Thank you, G’nort...for everything.”

Stepping away, Mercedes lifted a hand to touch at her jaw once more as she walked towards the bathroom. She may have told him she would think about it tomorrow, but her mind was already aflutter with ideas.

Taken from live play and edited with permission. Thanks to the player of G.
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