12395/A coyote in the kitchen

A coyote in the kitchen
Date of Scene:	29 October 2020
Location:	Summers House, Sunnydale
Synopsis:	Buffy confronts Mercy and discovers her secret.
Cast of Characters:	Buffy Summers, Mercy Thompson

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Buffy Summers has posed:
It's been a while since Buffy checked in at the Summers' house, and since then, her sister Dawn has become well acquainted with the cute (and surprisingly ' tame ') coyote that she had bumped into a couple of times now.

Buffy had hoped to find a shelter to take in the 'yote, but Dawn had other ideas, feeding her, taking her for walks...Feeding her generous luxury wet dog food meals...And tasty table scraps in the kitchen, before leaving her in the backyard before heading off to school for the day.

Unfortunately Dawn didn't come home right away, leaving Mercy possibly stuck in the back yard for an indefinite amount of time.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy's a resourceful coyote, if anything. Being the daughter of Coyote, raised by werewolves..she's already thinking on a plan to get into the house. Because...um....she's no desire to get stuck in a shelter. Or, or, or...ya know, or...worse, adopted by some family and shoved under a tree. Alright, releiving herself on a Christmas tree would make the lights go bzzt pop pop bang and probably burn the house down, so Mercy's not up for that.

Instead she's grimly and gamely suffered through wet dog treats..and as of right now is scratching at the back door to be let in. Because.....ah the door's unlocked and open. In comes the coyote!

See the walks aren't all bad. She's not tugged on the leash all that badlyy and gone after small fuzzy things. At least she's trying to train Dawn to let go of the leash when Mercy takes off chasing a mouse or, or, a cat or something. Still, in the kitchen, on her hind legs now...she's tugging at drawers and cupboards and things to see what's in there.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers returns to the house, having promised to take Dawn shopping..,But she is nowhere to be found as she steps in, peering around. "Dawn? Where are you?" Sheesh, that girl is sooo irresponsible. She must have forgotten again! Or maybe she's in trouble again.

Buffy sighs and shakes her head as she wanders around the first floor. Feeling a mild breeze from the back door, she frowns and moves that way, passing through the kitchen on the way.

She kind of wishes she hasn't. Eyes widen in surprise and obvious disapproval at the sight of the coyote on her hind legs and going thru her drawers. "Bad dog! Down!" she practically yells, hastily closing doors and picking up anything that feel out. Dammit..

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy flees at the yelling and leaves the kitchen and runs for...well...the nearest closet. Stepping back into her human form, Mercy dresses quickly and pushes the closet door open, creeping into the bathroom while she's trying to think up a plausible reason why she's in here. Or..or...something like it. She's just dressed in whatever she can find. Which is mismatched socks, a skirt, underwear, one sneaker, and one flip flop that she kicks off, sliding out of the sneakers she makes her way down the stairs carefully, looking over the house. Oh, today is...kind of her day?

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers sighs as she tidies up the kitchen and closes more doors. She watches the coyote dart off but doesn't follow, giving her time to cool off. "Geez Dawn...What were you thinking?" she shakes her head and steps out of the kitchen. Hey, was that her upstairs? "Hey Dawn is that you..?"

But it seems someone else is here? Eyes narrow warily in the stranger. "What the...Who are you? How'd you get in here?"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy's quiet for a moment, "Oh, I was outside and came in the kitchen" Mercy offers. True. She did. She absolutely did. Just on four paws and furred. Not that she says that, if Buffy can connect two and two and get four...then good for her. Mercy raises her hands. "I was looking for clothes, and...well..." Mercy shrugs. That is very much true...

"I'm Mercy" she says and smiles. Okay, try to win Buffy over, Mercy. Try to win her over...or...something...

Something like that. "Um...I kind of raided a closet, looked like things you'd wear. Sorry" mercy admits watching the floor intently.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers narrows her eyes on the woman, hands clenching to fists. "You...That coyote.." oh. Right, of course, this is Sunnydale afterall. "Oh! You're a werewolf..Or were-coyote. That makes a bit of sense, I guess. I mean explains why you didn't just run away when those vamps came.." she's definitely more intelligent than your average wolf. It definitely helps that Buffy has a friend or two who are also werewolves.

Still, she has a lot of questions, like.."Sooo how come you never told me all this time? I mean, considering I'm not exactly normal, fighting vamps and all."

Oh yes, she has noticed some familiar clothes from her own closet, which are a bit small on the taller Mercy but..Well at least Buffy is more understanding now. Mostly.

"But seriously, raiding the cupboards in a stranger's house? Not cool." her smile fades a bit, pondering how to deal with this. She can't exactly punish her or anything. And it's not like she owns her, since she's not just an animal...Awkwaard...

Mercy Thompson has posed:
"Yes I'm that coyote. And for the record, your little sister needs to buy decent wet brand dog food. Or let me cook" Mercy sayys with a gesture behind Buffy back toward the kitchen. "Yeah I can step from a coyote to a person and back again. I needed clothes. Look, if I'm staying here, and to make it easy let your littl sister think I'm a house pet...because it's not a bad life really, I walk to heel, I guard the house after all, but point is if I'm going to stay here, then I'll need clothes" Mercy nods and looks from Buffy to behind her then back to the Slayer.

"Can I at least cook or bake you something to prove I'm not all evil?" Mercy offers.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers frowns a bit, still unsure if this is a good idea. "Wait, who said anything about staying? I'm sure you have your own job and life and place to stay somewhere, and since you're not the stray dog you were posing as, there isn't really a reason for you to stay...Unless you really don't have anywhere else to go?"

Good grief, what mess has Dawn gotten her into this time?

Mercy Thompson has posed:
"Well...yeah" Mercy admits, "But my shop's closed for the moment, and I kind of like your place. Not too long of a walk to Fort Joseph, really" she says. Keep digging, Mercedes, Keep digging...

"That and Dawn needs some guidance really. I can stick around here if I'm not at work, right?" Mercy offers and gives Buffy a hopeful look. "Plus I can help you out too, I went to college you know and got my degree so" Mercy says with a shrug. "Life's kind of split between two legs and four paws honestly"

With that Mercy leans on the wall, watching Bufy. "I just know my father's laughing his ass off somewhere at this prdicament probably..." she mutters, "I swear one of these days I am going to have a nice talk with him"

Pushing herself off the wall, Mercy smiles. "I'm Mercy, but I already said that though. You're...I ccan't really just refer to you as Dawn's sister can I?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers sighs, "Look, Mercy, this isn't a hotel, or an..An animal shelter. And I know you've helped me fend off demons in the past and I appreciate that, but I don't like tricked, or giving people a permanent free ride." She shrugs, "You wanna hang out and gain my trust, heck, accompany me on patrol, sure we can do that. But I don't like being hoodwinked. I hope you don't have anymore tricks up your sleeve.."

Buffy never really gave her name. Maybe she's still trying to decide if she's earned that right.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
That gets a pause from Mercy. "I can try if my work allows it" Mercy offers,a kind of meeting halfway thing really...though she shakes her head. "Patrols? Can't I...I dunno, walk Dawn to school and back again or something or help teach her to cook and stuff? Life lessons. But yeah I can try for patrols if my work lets me. Cars and bikes won't fix themselves" Mercy muses. "You got a car?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy Summers shrugs, "Sure, it'd be nice to have someone watch Dawn for me, she's such a trouble magnet. And honestly it's not that I mind you hanging out here, now that I know what you really are, just..lNo more surprises okay?" she shrugs, "My mom has a car, So does my boyfriend. But I do t drive."