480/Along Came A Spider

Along Came A Spider
Date of Scene:	18 May 2017
Location:	West Harlem - Mercy's garage
Synopsis:	Adrien and Mercy find out a bit more about Lorien and offer aid.
Cast of Characters:	Mercy Thompson, 185, 142

---

Mercy Thompson has posed:
It's morning, but not terribly early morning. It's late enough that the majority of the businesses are open and the majority of morning traffic as eased off.

For Mercy's Garage it's already open and has been since six this morning. The front door of the one story building holds a sign that says in bold-face print: WE'RE OPEN.

Once through the front door a person will come straight into the front office/waiting area. It holds a variety of plastic chairs for customers, as well as formica counter-top and a desk with an aged computer system atop it. The connecting door that leads into the garage is closed this day, but even with it being closed the vague sounds of clanging and banging can still be heard.

While the front door is the typical way customers enter the side of the building does hold the garage door, which allows Mercy to pull the cars she's servicing into the garage proper. With the weather being so nice the garage door sits wide open, affording a good view of Mercy under the hood of a beat-up little Volkswagen rabbit.

Lorien (185) has posed:
Sunlight is good for security. You can see everything and everyone around you. Attacks are less likely in broad daylight.

This is why Lorien is staying out of sight, for the greater part; he doesn't want to alarm the average everyman who's just on their way to work, to the store, to school. A gray-tinted cloth covers his head and shoulders loosely, resembling a hoodie at a distance. It's to help blend in; little gray riding hood is on his way to 'grandma's' house.

He lands on the roof of the garage with an audible, but not overly loud, *thump*.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
*CLANG BANG CLANG*

Goes the mechanic as she tries to remove a stubborn bolt; which is saying something, since her strength is greater than what her size affords her. A muttered word of irritation leaves her mouth, before her movements pause -

- She heard that thump from atop her garage and slowly Mercy will ease out from under the hood of the car. The wrench that she was using to try to remove that stubborn nut is gripped slightly tighter now as she silently pads over to the open garage door. Carefully Mercy will lean just her upper body out of the garage, her wary gaze turning upward towards the roof.

She's trying to see what might have gone thump so loudly; it surely wasn't a pigeon or a stray cat. That just sounded too heavy.

Lorien (185) has posed:
From the open door of the garage, Lorien lowers himself, upside down. Maybe he *could* be a knock-off spiderman.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" he asks, right before the cloth around his neck and shoulders slips and ends up falling over his face and into his mouth. "--mnnf!"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
While Mercy lives in a more metaphysical world than most 'mortals' that doesn't mean she can't be taken by surprise. Which is what happens here.

When Itsy Bitsy Spider literally lowers himself downward from the roof towards her garage, Mercy, can't quite help the look of surprise that flashes across her features. It's clear she just wasn't expecting that. Hopefully with a few more visits from Lorien these types of arrivals will be less .. shocking.

Either way, when her surprise has passed, Mercy will step forward the now blinded spider-human hybrid. "Lorien!" She says in both greeting and concern when she sees his 'hood' fall over his face. The wrench that she was clutching so tight is quickly pocketed as the woman now steps towards the upside (or is that right-side up) Spider. "Here let me help." Which is hopefully enough warning for Lorien as Mercy reaches to help push the hood back up (or is that down?), or rather, to push it off of his face.

"I think your hood needs a drawstring." Comes her last words which are liberally tinged with the sound of humor.

Lorien (185) has posed:
"I'm still getting the hang of weaving clothes," he admits, embarassed, as Mercy uncovers his face. "Broad cloth and seamless tubes are easy enough, but the details are still a little tricky. Even normal, non-speaking spiders have to learn how to weave webs better over the course of their lives." It was something Dr. Lang had brought up to Dr. Morton when watching Lorien's first attempts at webspinning.

Still hanging upside down, he reaches with standard hands to try to hold the hood down (up?) so he can see and speak clearly. "You have a very nice home," he says politely, not understanding that this is the garage, not the house. "It has many tools. Though I do not see where you sleep comfortably."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
"I would imagine it is. I'm good with buttons, a quick-stitch here and there, but anything more complicated and I'm lost.." Agrees Mercy and once he has a hold of his 'hood' she'll let go and then step back. She'll gesture for him to come to the ground, even as cocks her head towards the garage. "Come on inside? The neighbors might find it a bit odd to have a man hanging upside down from my garage door..."

The interior of the garage is very tool-heavy, as well as work bench heavy, and there's two closed doors that can be seen; one leads to the office and the other to her living area.

At his compliment to her tools, Mercy will offer a quick flash of teeth as she smiles, "Thanks. And I sleep through there -" Her hand will motion towards that second door, "- This area is just my work space, where I fix cars or work on projects." Speaking of cars, she'll move over to the Rabbit and carefully push the hood down with a quiet clang. Once the car is set, she'll turn back to Lorien and give him the once over, "How're you doing? Enough to eat today?"

Lorien (185) has posed:
"Oh! Right, sorry," Lorien apologizes again, letting his extra legs do the work of righting him and lowering him to the ground before tucking in against his back. He adjusts his cloak to cover them once more before walking inside.

"I'm well this morning. Trying to find more information as I can. Some books are easy to get to but most are indoors and require money I don't have to acquire." He frowns a little. "I don't know what to do. I suppose I can just hunt and wander but that seems, well, /boring/, and I can't interact with others, save you and Chat, without scaring them." He glances to that second doorway and internally remarks to himself that Mercy must be incredible to have so much space to call her own.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Once Lorien is inside Mercy will take the extra step of closing the garage door with a press of a button.

The hiss of hydraulics is easily heard as the door motors downward shutting the two inside and the outer world on the other side.

With that done, Mercy will move over to a work bench that holds a variety of hand-towels. The nearest towel will be snagged and she'll busy herself with wiping her hands free of oil and fluids. Even as she does that she'll keep the majority of her attention on Lorien and what he has to say. "Books do cost money." She agrees, "But Chat or I could help you get some from a library? Then when you're finished we can return them for you." She offers, the towel will be put aside as she moves towards the door nearest them. The one that leads into the front desk area, "Come on this way, I just want to put up the 'away for fifteen minutes sign' so no one comes in while we chat."

Lorien (185) has posed:
Lorien nods. Having no concept of a library as of yet, the idea is intriguing. He follows along like a dutiful child, trusting Mercy completely, so far. He'd feel bad if he understood that Mercy's temporary shop closing might be costing her money - but that sort of understanding may yet be on the horizon.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Once the two are within the front office Mercy will make her way to the front door; an easy flick of the wrist will turn that OPEN sign to temporarily CLOSED.

Then it's back to Lorien and the coyote will give the spider-esque man a long assessing look. "Perhaps tonight we can find you a permanent home. Somewhere near the city, but not so close to the hustle and bustle?" She asks, her question more rhetorical in nature.

"In fact, why don't I show you where I was looking -" And just like that, Mercy is over at her desk. It might be a tight squeeze for Lorien to get super close to the desk, with it's aged computer, but he should still fit relatively near. Reaching for the power button Mercy will turn on the poor, dusty thing, and with an audible click and hum the computer comes to life. Thankfully the wi-fi for the garage is always on and when the computer finally finishes booting up all Mercy needs to do is click her web-browser. Once the web-browser is up Mercy will plot in a general address in a search engine and once the search engine spins the wheel for a few seconds several hits will appear on screen.

Some even have pictures of the outside of the warehouses with each address line.

Lorien (185) has posed:
Lorien is immediately interested. "This!" He gestures to the computer, walking towards it, pointing like a child who can't remember the name of the object he's gesticulating towards. "This! These were in the lab. These were the things that had words, that all the scientists would sit in front of. The things that had all the information before the shut down!"

He stands near Mercy at the computer, reaching a hand out to try to touch the monitor, holding back before contact. There's something more to this, it makes his palms itch, and he doesn't really understand why. He tenses his fingers. Almost. /Almost/.... The imagines are ignored in favor of the machine itself.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
The excitement is easily heard and Mercy will turn just enough to look over her shoulder at Lorien. A grin tugs at the corners of her mouth at the young man's sudden enthusiasm. "Computers, yes, that doesn't surprise me that they had them there." Her head will cant slightly to the side, even as she considers Lorien, debating whether to ask about the lab. For now she decides not to. Not yet, at the very least.

Perhaps later when the two know each other more.

Turning her gaze back to the computer, Mercy will say, "It's connected to what we call the internet. You can find just about everything there. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes a bad." When he tenses those fingers the screen will briefly flicker, the disruption even seen by Mercy. "That's weird." She'll reach up and check the cords that connect the monitor to the drive of the machine.

Lorien (185) has posed:
"Ow!" Lorien flinches, and withdraws his hands, rubbing them together as if stung. Glancing down, he stops, opens his hands, and stares at them. His eyes widen, and he looks confused.

Circles in the palms of his hands have appeared, metal patternwork , faintly illuminated with a golden hue, pressed up through the skin on the surface of his hands, splitting it open. It looks like circuitry.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
The wires are jiggled by Mercy and when the screen settles down she'll once more straighten. While her gaze was just about to go back to the screen to really look at the various warehouses that have been displayed her attention suddenly shifts when Lorien says that sharp ow.

Turning, the brown-haired woman will say, "What happened?" Her tone of voice holds a note of concern, as well as her gaze, "You okay?" And when he opens those hands Mercy will rise upward to get a good look at them too. While she doesn't offer any type of shocked gasp, or inhalation, she will look surprised. Carefully she'll reach out to touch the sides of his hands, trying to tilt angle them closer to her, for a closer look. "What in the world?" She says quietly, mystified by the appearance of the circuitry.

Lorien (185) has posed:
Lorien allows Mercy to take a look at his hands; he's too startled by his own technoorganic components to put up a fuss, even if he wanted to. "I... I don't know. I didn't know I could do this, all I knew is that my hands itched and I wanted to hold the computer," he replies, murmuring slightly. "I'm afraid that if I do, I might damage your computer. I don't know what this does. This never happened in the enclosure or in the testing area."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
The circuitry is given a look and while she isn't some techno-path, she has seen enough car computers to realize what it is. Not what it does, but what it is.

"It looks like circuitry." She begins, her gaze still focused on Lorien's palms, "I can't say what sort, but that's what it looks like to me." When she's finished looking at the palms of his hands she'll gently let them go, then she'll turn a look towards the young spider-like-man.

"Can you tell me a little bit about your time in the labs? Do you .. " And she hesitates here, trying her best to say it gently, ".. do you know how they merged you -" Is that better than created? Hopefully, "- with the spider aspect qualities of yourself?"

Lorien (185) has posed:
Lorien, still staring at his palms, sighs softly. "I was not merged. I was born like this. Hatched, actually. Doctor Lang said that I hatched from an egg that was brought from a place called Amazon, and that I was like this from my birth," he explains. He gingerly touches his left palm with his right finger, testing it, seeing how it feels, if it hurts. Fortunately it doesn't; but he privately worries his palms will be permanently ridged.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
His answer brings an echoing wince from the woman. Mercy was striving for delicate and still bungled it or at least in her eyes she did. Fortunately, Lorien doesn't seem too upset over what he just revealed.

Her nostrils will flare as she takes in the young man's scent, "By Amazon I think you mean the Amazon Jungle. There's still a lot that we don't know about that jungle." How many new antibiotics have they found down that way? So many.

"What else did the scientists tell you?" She asks, even as her gaze drops to his hands again, "Because I can tell you your scent isn't typical for a human. I don't know what that /means/ for you exactly, but it's definitely different than the average Joe you see around the city."

Lorien (185) has posed:
"Well, Doctor Lang told me that I have half of her DNA, that somehow, when she touched the egg they found, it fertilized it, and I developed from it. I think that is why she wanted to protect me more than the others did. Doctor Morton said I was a danger to human kind that I should be killed as soon as possible," Lorien explains. He doesn't understand that Mercy just took in his scent; he doesn't know that humans don't do that naturally.

He continues to speak, unbothered by the questions. Somehow, it just feels good to say it, to see if it was bad or good or not. He could never tell, barring emotional base reactions to what happened around him. "They said I grew up too fast, that I was 'mature physiology' at two years old. They also said I learned too fast, and they didn't have the right equipment to evaluate what I was."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
There's a silent moment from Mercy as she considers all Lorien just said to her. While some of it has definitely surprised her, nothing was too too too shocking, not with how his looks. That definitely helped prepare her for an odd background, that's for certain.

"Well -" Begins the woman, her brain furiously considering what to say and how to help, "- I can't say I've ever heard that sort of story before, but that doesn't mean it's not relevant. There are many of us out there that are a little different than baseline humans." And here is where her voice gets firm, "And none of us need to die because of it. Different doesn't mean danger." Sadly a lot of people still feel that way.

"We need someone that can help." Mercy continues with, as she considers who might be able to help. "Someone we can trust. Perhaps Steel?" She says thoughtfully, her gaze returning to Lorien, "His armor has to be technology based and it seemed pretty advanced, perhaps he can help you figure out what's going on with your hands and what else you can possibly do."

Lorien (185) has posed:
"If you think he can help." Lorien glances at the computer again, conflicted. Want to touch. Want. Waaaaant.

Warm Self prods from within, pay attention to Mercy, not the computer. The spider brings his gaze back to the woman and not the screen. "Doctor Morton was right to be afraid of me." Warm Self screeches, what are you doing?? "I ... I did kill humans," he confesses. He doesn't even know why he's saying it in specific, other than Mercy's concern and trustworthiness so far warrants it. "I killed a lot of them. There's a part of me that I call Cold. It's a predator, it sees humans as food, as breeding material. It... sometimes when I'm in danger, or angry, or afraid, it takes over. I'm not the same person then that I am now. Doctor Morton wasn't afraid for nothing."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
"I think he could. I can talk to him first if you like?" Mercy offers, before she falls silent when her speaks more about Dr. Morton. She has a feeling she's going to hate hearing the phrase 'but, Doctor Morton said'...

His confession doesn't alter her expression too much; his question the other day about whether he should have killed those men gave her some inkling to his personality. It also helps that she lived with a pack of werewolves; they've killed people in their own right.

"A cold and warm side." She says, "I can understand the duality of your nature." The faintest of grins quirks her mouth upward as she says to Lorien, "Believe it or not I've had a lot of practice dealing with the more primal side of people. But - " And again here's where her voice goes firm, "- Now you realize those actions weren't necessarily needed. Going forward you have to try your hardest to keep cold side under control. You should only kill people in certain situations and that's only in self-defense. Do you understand?"

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
Adrien hadnt seen Mercy in a while. He hadn't seen Lorien in a while either. He really had to check up. The trip to Milan for runway throw things outta whack. Making his way to the mechanics shop one morning, he blinks in surprise at seeing the spider. Adrien had brought it, tossing it iver a shoukder so Mercy could... scent... Adrien had no idea. but it sounded good? But, seeing them together met tgat awkward could be avoided. He moved over, grtting closer before drawing attention to himselg.

Lorien (185) has posed:
Cold Self butts in.

Lorien's pupils narrow and his demeanor hardens at the edges. There's no smile, no softness, no hints of wandering, confused innocence. In their place is calm, calculating logic. It's not intentionally threatening.

"The situation was entirely warranted. You don't have to tell me that killing should be kept only to dire need, I understand that. I was taught that, even if it goes against all common sense." Yes, there's definitely some other aspect of Lorien speaking here. It's him and it's not him. Not the him that Adrien has met. Mercy had only been vaguely introduced a few days earlier.

"I killed them because they slaughtered the entire laboratory staff. Everyone - Lang, Morton --" A pause. A tightening of the throat. "-- Rebecca." He composes himself. There was a slip there, an important one. "It was entirely too easy even with their guns and body armor, but it was justified. They were there to wipe the entire facility clean of life, mine as the capstone to the whole fiasco. What do you do to men that shoot a pregnant woman on her knees, begging for her life? You deal them death in turn. They were barely fit to serve as food."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Adrien will find the door quite open to Mercy's Garage, even if the sign says back in fifteen minutes ...

... As for Lorien's change in demeanor, Mercy notices it. How can she not? Her senses are far acuter than a normal person's is and it's easy to see the emotions leaching out of the man's features.

While it causes the vaguest of frowns to form upon Mercy's expression, she will listen to what he has to say. While there's no shock upon her features there is another emotion; sadness and perhaps a touch of horror, though not for Lorien. More for his circumstances. "That's terrible. I'm so sorry that happened to you and your friends." She begins quietly, even as she continues with, "And like I said life or death situations. You did what you had to do in that moment; they were trying to kill you, that's all you could do."

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
"Bonjour...?" Adrien calls out, leaning into area. This new side to Lorien's voice is odd, uncomfortable, but... it's good to see thhat Lorien and Mercy hace mey and the spider on biard with he and mercy and the dont kill memo.

And because he's noy supposed to have seen Korien before, Adrien syops at thw sighy of Lorien befoee pulling up a smile anf looking at Mercy.

Umm... how do we do this? Say we bith know that we both know Chat Noir?

Lorien (185) has posed:
"They killed my child before it could be born."

The words hit with heavy thud. Lorien closes his eyes, and turns away, just in time for Adrien to show himself in with a starkly contrasted friendly greeting. It will take him a moment to settle himself inside, Warm Self howling in his head with reopened emotional wounds.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
That look from Adrien is returned and Mercy will consider the best way to address that silent question. Her brows furrow for a second as she tries out the best explanations within her head -

- So, Adrien knows Chat too - Nono, maybe - Adrien was helped by Chat too, better ...

But whatever else she was going to say stalls when Lorien drops his next bomb. Shock will now cover Mercy's features, as she stares at Lorien. Her hands will move unconsciously towards the young man, moving to hold them, "Oh my god ... Lorien, I am so sorry." Her previous words were quiet, but now they're all but hushed.

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
Like Mercy, Adrien too is pulled from the sticky bit of how do we all know each other by the emotional bomb. Without thinking further, Adrien steps forward to Lorien, eyes worried and concerned and full of sympathy. Wihout further fear or hesitation the model moves to Lorien, a hand reahing out for. shoulder.

"Mondieu, Lorien. Im so sorry," he blurts out.

Lorien (185) has posed:
"That's why they came." Lorien's voice is halfway between a groan and a whisper. "My child was like me. Exactly like me. Not a quarter human - it was my species, whatever species this is. I remember the yelling outside my enclosure."

He turns, and, still within arm's length of that computer, reaches out, and presses the circuit-seal on his palm to the top of the monitor.

Circuit-lines glow gold and trace up his hand, his arm, to his shoulder; where Adrien is touching him, there is no appreciable change of temperature or structure, just a little bit of golden glow eaking up between the young man's fingers. The circuits stream up through his body outwards, curling up his neck and running to a point between his eyes. Even his irises gleam beneath their surfaces, as he completes an interface, Cold Self forcing instinctual action where Warm Self hesitated.

The monitor opens a new window, displaying a video - it's from the perspective of someone else, and it won't take much to intuit that someone else is Lorien himself. He is, somehow, uploading and sharing his very memory.

<< A zoo enclosure, a jungle environment, and there are two individuals behind glass, talking. One is a middle-aged Asian woman, the other, an older Caucasian man, with gray-white hair, somewhat portly. Both are in labcoats. Both look unhappy.>>

<< "You saw the results of the ultrasound the same time that I did, Lang! You can't meant to tell me that we should continue this any further! I *firmly* expressed my concern with that -creature's- continued existence. -two years- to physical maturity, and the neurotoxic agent in its venom is tailored for maximum effectiveness against primates!" the man argues, not bothering to keep his voice down.>>

<< "Lorien is not a -thing-, Morton. He is a living, sentient person, and he deserves the same rights as anyone else. What we're witnessing is nothing short of a miracle, and I expressed -my- strongest contempt for using him like a guinea pig. He may be physically mature but he is in no way socially mature, and Fine is trying to play god now with not just one life but with an entire -family-. This *has* to go to the authorities.">>

<<"We've already opened a pandora's box here, and we need to stop it before it spreads," Morton snaps. "You saw the number of egg shards, there had to be a hundred in that clutch. You don't need a degree to come up with the population numbers! What if every female of that thing's species lays a hundred eggs, more? Two years per generation to breeding age, they'll out compete humanity in every way within a few decades! We're talking an extinction level event! This is no time to get soft and sentimental just because you think you're his mother!">>

<< Lang reacts as if she's been slapped. "-- If *anyone* has lost their bearings in this godforsaken disaster, it's -you- Oliver. You and Fine. Do what you want, I'm going to the authorities.">>

<< Morton huffs. "-That-, at least we are in agreement on. I'm going to try to reason with Fine if possible." On that note, both turn and hurry away from the hallway beyond the glass. Lang pauses, looking back at the camera - at what must obviously be Lorien - with grief in her eyes, before turning and running down the hall.>>

Mercy Thompson has posed:
The circuitry that flows up Lorien's arm to his shoulder is looked at -

- Worry tinges Mercy's gaze now, as she turns her eyes to Lorien's features. It's only when her computer flashes with that second window and starts to play a 'video' will Mercy's gaze turn away. Her expression turns back to shock as she watches the video and listens to what the two doctors say. She hasn't quite realized that it's a memory from Lorien, but perhaps eventually she will. For now that shock turns to slight horror -

- "Lorien." Says Mercy, as she stares at the monitor, "You don't need to show us this." And she'll take a step further as she steps towards the monitor and Lorien's hand. She'll reach out to touch his hand upon the monitor. "I'm so sorry." She says again, her words being repeated. What else can she say? "That's terrible what they did to you and your family."

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
Adrien palesn green eyes focused on the screen and the video. his hand on lorien's shoukder tightens and a look of determination falls across his face.

"But Im glad you shared it. Sometimes... sharing it... makws it easier...." says the modwl with thw secret super identity. "We're going to help you, Lorien. Somwhow... " and howpfully keep Hawkmoth from taking control of you.

Lorien (185) has posed:
Lorien removes his hand and the contact is instantly broken, the video window vanishing. The glow fades from his skin an eyes. He'll make use of this later, see if he can take in as much as he can display, but now, Warm Self is ready to strangle Cold Self into unconsciousness.

"... Now you see why I don't know what to do with myself. There's no place for me here. There's no place for me... anywhere."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
A look is given to Adrien as Mercy nods in agreement with what the cat has to say. "He's right .." And while she would have said more Lorien speaks again and Mercy will shake her head. "You're wrong. You belong here just as we do. I don't know how much you know of the world Lorien, but there are more than just 'humans' here." And a wry note enters her voice now, as she just learned that particular lesson recently. "Far more." She'll add for good measure and with a look towards Adrien, she'll say, "There's people with fantastical powers and gifts. Even magic. If they can make a place in this world and be accepted -" Accepting it is pushing it, but Mercy still says it, "- You can too. I promise."

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
"exactly. You arent alone and there is a place for you. im sure of it. Listen. Im going to see what I can find on that. ok? but... how to xontact...? have you found a permanent place yet?" too focused om helping, adrien forgets that maybe he shoukdnt kmow. screw it. vhat tokd him.

Lorien (185) has posed:
Lorien looks between Mercy and Adrien. Cold Self... relents. Warm Self is allowed back, and the spider's body language softens. "Thank you," he says, just above a whisper. "I just wonder if I really am a danger to everyone else. I never wanted to hurt anyone, but because of me, everyone in the lab died. I don't want to be the cause of harm to either of you. To anyone. I just want ... some kind of meaning to my life."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy's expression softens at Lorien's dejected look. She's seen many a people wear that sort of look; though for different reasons. "One, Adrien and I are tough, two, you can choose what sort of life you're going to live." She'll step away from her monitor and back towards Lorien, offer a comforting hand to his shoulder should he allow her to. "If you don't want to harm people then don't. I know the duality inside of you makes it harder, but a balance can be achieved. I promise you."

And she'll make sure to try and make eye-contact with that promise. "I may even have some friends who can help you." A look will be sent to Chat for a second, before Mercy admits, "Werewolves deal with the same thing. There's the human side of themselves and then the wolf." Her eyes return to Lorien now, "The wolf is a hard beast to manage, but if they can do it, so can you. It'll be a battle, but a worthwhile one to know you'll never lose control again."

Well, in most situations. The wolves at time do lose their control, but those are extreme moments. "And it's understandable why you lose control when they killed your family ... anyone would."

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
Adrien nods in agreement to Mercy's words. Now more than ever he wants to make sure Hawkmoth never has a chance at this poor soul.

"Likr Mercy said, youre not alone anymore in this. She and I. ...and Chat! We'll help. Whst you did, knowing the reasom for it? I dont think youre a monster. those that pushed yiu there are. not you, ok?" Must keep Lorien from getting too overwhwlemed by sad. Papillon has made akumas with less...

Lorien (185) has posed:
The psychological wound burst, and now Lorien has to deal with cleaning it before it festers. He meets Mercy's eyes and listens, but there's a numbness sweeping over him as he tries to sort though all of this.

"I... I owe you both. All of you. I'll find some way to make it up to you, but right now, I just need to sit down and think. Let me do it somewhere I'm not interrupting your lives. A roof, a closet, a corner, something. Just point me to it."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
"You owe us nothing." Mercy says, "Just do the same when you find someone that needs help. Be there for them." Are her last words before looks sympathetically at Lorien. So many changes in his short life, it has to be hard for him. "Of course. If you don't mind sharing some space with a cat you can rest in my living room." And no, Mercy isn't even considering that cats might be his food; it's just not in her head, "This way -"

And she'll lead Lorien back through the garage and into that other door, the one that leads into her living space. Once he's settled with her living room (with a blanket and some pillows) she'll leave. The last thing she says before she goes back to her garage is, "Adrien and I will be out here when you've rested."

Then, just like that, the coyote is gone and Lorien is left to rest.