8940/A walk in the park

A walk in the park
Date of Scene:	24 August 2019
Location:	Central Park, Manhattan
Synopsis:	A meeting of chance between Mercy and Shannon results in the beginning of a promising friendship
Cast of Characters:	Nightingale, Mercy Thompson

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Nightingale has posed:
     For once, it seemed to be a quiet, normal early afternoon at Central Park. No Sentinels, no anti-mutant protests, nothing that seemed to present much of any danger at all. It was a perfect day to go outside and enjoy the fresh air, and revel in the delights of simply being alive. It seems one young mutant has taken advantage of the fine weather for an afternoon flight, backwinging her way to a semi-decent landing on the edge of the immense open area of the park. Her pale gold hair is long and loose, and her light azure eyes twinkle with sheer delight at the gorgeous day. She's clad in a light cream poet's blouse, a pair of ribbon-embroidered jeans, and a quirky pair of flip-flops with daisies on the toes. She has a small, worn brown leather pouch with runes stamped in a pleasing pattern into it tied at her waist, and it does not appear to be empty. She glances around the area, having learned the hard way to keep an eye on her surroundings, but all the same, seemed relaxed in demeanor.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy's out in the park too. She's come here to relax after a morning of fighting with bolts, wrenches and...and...oil lines. Her way of dealing with stuff? Baking. She's got a whole home made brownie she's sliced down, and it's sitting on a blanket along with her. Mercy's got on jeans, her work bots and an American flag t-shirt. There's a slice of the brownie missing, and Mercy's got crumbs on her lips and fingers. No prizes for guessing what happened to that brownie, as Mercy's sitting on the blanket keeping an eye on what's going on....at least in her bit of the park, like...the surrounding few feet.

Mercy wtches the flight and landing, clapping at the landing as she stretches her legs out. She's not sure if she was heard or not, but she appreciates skill when she sees it. Nature documentaries taught her few birds can fly backwards, and her attending that talk's got er thinking too.

Nightingale has posed:
     The clapping does indeed get Shannon's attention, her head whipping about to fix her gaze on the stranger. Crap. She hadn't meant to disturb anyone, really. It seemed her situational awareness needed some work, because she hadn't picked up on Mercy's presence at all. She sketches something of a bow, though, smiling at the stranger and waving. "Hi there!" What could it hurt to be civil, right?

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy gives a little wave while breaking off a piece of brownie slice with her other hand. It just...sits there on the blanket as Mercy smiles. "Nice landing" she says with a nod. She's seen nature documentaries, after all. "I was just sitting here relaxing, you literally flew in" she smilees. "You like any brownie I baked? Don't worry, it's not /that/ sort" she jokes, her eyes bright with mirth. She's serious though. No weed brownies on her watch.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon stifles a giggle at the weed remark. Okay, so this one had a sense of humor. Nice. Maybe she could make a new friend after all. It was nice to get away from things for a little while, after all, and besides--that brownie sure did look tempting. She nods and ambles on over to plop herself down on the blanket, cross-legged. "Thanks! This looks really good." She takes a cautious sniff of the brownie. Nope, the strange woman wasn't lying. She couldn't smell a single trace of weed in it. One cautious nibble, and it looks as if Shannon is in heaven. The rest of the brownie does not last long at all. "Wow. That's some good stuff."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy grins, wiping her mouth with a tissue and pats the blanket like saying 'please, sit down', though she's got a mouth full of brownie, she patting the blanket is the best she can really do. She scoots over a little as well, the brownie in the middle. She swallows then grins, "Yep it's good. I baked it earlier to destress form work. I'm good at baking, average at cooking, but I always get sidetracked by licking out the bowl" Mercy admits. "So, what's up?" she asks brightly.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon giggles, nodding with understanding. "Oh yeah, I know what you mean. Sometimes licking out the bowl is almost as good, nearly better than the brownies themselves." She has no compunction about licking the crumbs from her fingers, grinning a bit sheepishly like a kid who got their hand caught in the cookie jar. "I love baking, too. Cooking's fun, made great science lessons when I was little." She brushes her hand off on her jeans and holds it out. "Shannon. What's your name?"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy shakes the offered hand. "Mercy" she says and raisess an eyebrow. "You had cooking lessons? Jealous" Mercy says with a laugh. "I grew up in the middle of nowhere, cooking lessons were....well....a luxury" she says and shrugs. True, she learned to cook and bake, but....not in Montana. Shaking her head Mercy slices more brownie off. "See" Mercy says as she laughs, getting up she walks behind several trees and comes back....as a large brown brindle coyote. She's about the size of a German Shepherd. Mercy wags her tail and jumps onto the blanket as if showing off how adorable she is. Looking up at Shannon, Mercy pats the blanket next to the brownie with a paw, then drags a chunk of brownie over with a paw before it vanishes into her mouth. She wags her tail more and yips happily.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon's eyes go wide as she realizes the transformation is no trick. She sits up a little straighter--who or what was she dealing with here? Still, initial surprise gives way to a soft giggle as she realizes that this particular coyote was no immediate threat to her, and in fact was just plain... adorable! Yes, the showing off was rather effective. "Oh, that is amazing! How... how did you do that?"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy watches Shannon, doing that tongue wagging thing dogs do, as she settles down with her head on her paws watching the Shannon. She's curious, and...yes....adorable. Very much so, though Mercy's not thinking so. Instead she's doing her best to hint toward the brownie. Which involves settling next to it with her tail wagging as Mercy licks her front paws for a moment, then looks up at Shannon again. Mercy's used to being a coyote, and a person, but right now she's gone four pawed to relax on the blanket. Plus, hey, Mercy's cute when she does coyote things. Apparently...

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon giggles, and gets a slice of brownie for each of them, setting one piece down in front of the surprisingly adorable coyote. Okay, so speech was beyond Mercy in this form. And just how had she managed to change, anyways? She'd never heard of anything like that, except for references in mythology to the Gods themselves taking on animal form on occasion. But oh yes, message was indeed received, and she draws her hand back, uncertain of just how deep the instincts of a coyote ran for Mercy in this form, and not at all keen on getting bitten.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy doesn't bite. She does, though dart her tongue out to lick at a hand, not biting it. Instead, Mercy watches with an amused look. Speech is indeed impossible in this form, though Mercy does twitch an ear and wag her tail too at Shannon, as if in her own way saying hey, not a threat. How can something this adorable be a threat?

She's a got a point, then devours the slice of brownie methodically, carefully and setles back yet again, licking her paws once more.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon reaches out and tentatively scratches the ears of the coyote, grinning at just how surprisingly soft the fur is. She shifts about to lie on her stomach, to mimic the way Mercy-yote is hunkering down on the blanket, keeping her wings folded tightly at her back. Nope, no threat here either. Just plain out adorable and playful.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy really is, though she watches Shannon with an amused, confused look. Really. Shannon's imitating her? Mercy could test this theory, but the idea of Shannon chasing small fuzzy creatures on all fours has Mercy silently giggling, even in coyote form she's actually....giggling at the idea of Shannon imitating her. Mercy looks over then to the brownie again before she's scritched and does that thing canines do, she enjoys the scritches, tail thudding on the blanket. Thud, thud, thud. Mercy's so not a house pet, but she won't ever turn down free attention

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon giggles, not about to treat the coyote like a house pet, but still, it didn't seem like she was in any real danger at this point. She reaches for the brownie, picking up two more slices and nudging one of them towards Mercy. Hey, attention was nice, but Mercy was as she was in this form. And anyways, it was just nice to meet someone new. "How did you do that? Turn into a coyote, I mean. That's the stuff of mythology."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy springs up and runs off chasing a small fuzzy little thing....all the way to behind trees. The same trees she'd run bheind earlier, and comes back on two legs, dressed and walking back like nothing happend. Leaving clothes there is a great idea, and Mercy stretches out on the blanket again taking a slice of brownie. "Yep I'm still here" Mercy says with a grin. "Good brownies, and tucks her hair behind her ears. "How'd I do what. Turn into a coyote? That's what I got for being the daughter of Coyote. Yes. That one" Mercy shrugs. It's thhe truth, she's the daughter of a Native American deity. No biggie. She shuffles on the blanket a bit then cracks up giggling. "I was thinking when you were imitating me, were you going to crawl after things that caught your eye?" Mercy says through laughter. "No offense, but that'd be hilariously fun" Mercy points out getting her breath back.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon's eyebrows go way up, her eyes gone wide as dinner plates. "Whoah. Coyote, the trickster? I don't know much about those myths, but still..." Okay, well that explains the shapeshifting ability, and perhaps a little bit of the mischievous sense of play. She chuckles softly. "About all I remember of them is that they all have a reminder to not take yourself too seriously in common." She pushes herself to sitting up again, laughing and turning a little rosy in the face, brushing bits of debris from her front. She grins and ducks her head a little. "Ha, yeah that would've been funny, wouldn't it? Decent baker, but a lousy hunter."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy nods while chewing another brownie. "Yah, that one. My father's....tricksy. As he likes to say. Tricksy and then some. I take after him in a few ways, but you gathered that. I don't take life that seriously unless it warrants it. Give me a wrench and an old Vee Dub. I'm content. Or content hunting small fuzzy things but not a lot to do about that in this city." Mercy shrugs "What about you?" she adds with a grin.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon just laughs and shakes her head. "Nothing so fancy as all that. Dad's an undertaker, mom's an artist, neither of them are mutants. Homeschooled for the most part. Love baking, music, flying... you know, perfectly normal stuff." She does neglect to say anything further about her education, and perhaps might be leaving out one or two other things as well. "Just had my sweet sixteen last month. Cars, huh? That's pretty cool. You're one up on me there."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy grins. "Well...." she says tapping her nose. "I wish there were baking workshops more often, but yes, I'm a mecanic by trade. I got Mercy's Garage in West Harlem. I know, I know" she says with a wave of her hand. "Amazing name, huh?" she adds with a smirk, "Homeschooled. Hey, I went to college, got my history degree, and could have been a teacher, but noooooo, I came here and settled. This city's got a way of gripping your soul and not letting go, huh? Not bad for a girl who grew up in the middle of nowhere, Montana" Mercy grins, looking to the brownie. "I could teach you a few tricks with baking, mind...if you're wanting to learn?" she adds with a smile.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon chuckles a little bit. "Yeah it does, kind of. Just been around since a couple days before my birthday, not in the city but around." She peers over at Mercy, then the brownies, and back to Mercy again. "You sure you got a degree in history and not in the culinary arts? Those are some of the best brownies I've ever had!"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
"That's what the certificate says. I just picked up baking and got good on my own. Culinary school was too expensive, so I'm self taught for baking" Mercy says. "Psst, I got the bowl at my shop that's not licked out yet" she says. She's....totally serious, too. She didn't clean out the bowl yet, instead coming straight here. Mercy looks amused then smiles. "Homeschooled can be good though can't it?" she adds with a knowing nod.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon nods. "It can. So can going to school." Her eyebrows go up. "Wait, you left a brownie bowl all by its lonesome? I'm shocked!" She giggles softly, looking tempted for the moment, but debating the wisdom of going to someone's home she just met. Well, until something's actually said outright, she wasn't going to say anything about it. "Learning to cook was a necessity. Mom could pretty much burn water and dad's schedule can be pretty unpredictable. So if we wanted a reliable way to get dinner on the table, I'm it."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy shakes her head. "So it was survival?" she adds then nods solemely. "Yeah, I left it behind quite a few locked doors, next to my rifle and handgun. You know, security. Protect what's really important." she says with a smirk. In this case...brownie bowls. Oh they can rob her shop, but....hey, not the brownie bowl. Mercy looks amused though, "Didn't have time to lick it out, but...I could run off and go get it if you want?" she offers witha raised eyebrow. "No spoons, sadly. I did clean those before I came here"

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon laughs and grins. "Sounds good. No wonder these brownies are so good, they're super-fresh. Especially if you haven't even had time to lick out the bowl." She giggles and shrugs, smiling a bit sheepishly. "Yeah, it's survival. Dad's a pretty good cook, but there's no telling when he'd have to go out on a removal. So it really helped to learn. Oof, some of the tales he could tell...." She shivers a little bit, and grimaces. "Not following him into that family business. Nope. No way, no how."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
"Kinda hard to follow my fther into his business" Mercy admits with a grin, then pats the brownies. "Yeah, fresh baked. I wanted to get the brownie out here before licking out he bowl. Again, priorities" she nods with a smirk. Mercy shuffles a bit on the blanket and grins, looking amused then relieved. "I'm just saying. I could teach you how to make these brownies. I've a feeling they'd go down a storm wherever you are" Mercy adds with a nod. A firm nod. It's like she knows how brownies are

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon bursts out laughing and grins, nodding knowingly. "Yeah, I've got to wonder if where I'm at, there are vultures, or people. Sounds like you have your priorities a little mixed up, though. Come on, not licking out the bowl? Seriously? Shame on you!" She's trying to stifle her laughter and sound serious about the scolding--and fails miserably, in fits of giggles. She had a funny feeling it was going to be impossible to remain even close to serious around this one.

Mercy Thompson has posed:
"I didn't want to take another look at the Opel in the garage" Mercy admits. "Plus, if I started licking out the bowl...I wouldn't get here till it's all licked out and wewouldn't be talking right now" Mercy says. SHe's got a good point, really. Mercy shakes her head though. "You gotta work on your scolding, Shannon" Mercy says with a laugh of her own.

Nightingale has posed:
     "You've got a point. Things work out as they're meant to." Shannon grins from ear to ear, a bit sheepishly, and shrugs, her wings ruffling as if in an echo of the gesture. "Why should I work on my scolding, there's no real reason to. Who would I yell at, and why would I even want to? Unless it's one of my teachers coming down on themselves again. Then I won't hesitate to get in their face about it."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
"You answered your own question. I was going to say anyone who touches brownies, but your anser works too" Mercy admits with a nod. Mercy wags a finger. "You nee to work on that for school and for people taking your delicious snacks" she says, though her finger wagging's entirely in jest. Mercy shakes her head and grins wider with a smirk, "See, when I was in school, college, I mean" Mercy adds, correcting herself, "When I was in school, either way, I didn't dare yell at my professors. I'd have got into a screaming match at a college up in Oregon" Mercy admits, looking sheepish. "Then I'd have got kicked out and told okay, now get out and find your way in life. That's how it works. Ever notice?" she asks wondering silently how they're getting through this brownie, "How once you finish college, you are smarter but in debt? It's like pay to learn. What a novel concept" she says with sarcasm dripping off her voice.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon shakes her head and shrugs, nibbling her brownie. "Wouldn't know about that yet. Just a sophomore in high school." Suddenly, the brownie became even more interesting than before, and she devotes her whole attention to sending it on its way. "Besides, there's a lot to learn that doesn't always involve school."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy looks thoughtfulthen to the brownie again. "On the other hand, you got great baked goods" Mercy offers. Open mouth, insert feet. Now to dig herself outta this hole. "My offer of teaching you to bake still stands, I'll even give you a bowl and spoons I use" Mercy offers with an encouraging look as she's settled laying on her back, on the blanket and is watching Shannon with one eye, then the clouds with her other eye.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon chuckles. "There's probably a few things we could teach each other, though it sounds a lot more like you teaching me than the other way around." She holds up her hands, brownie crumbs and all, and grins. "That's definitely not a complaint, though."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Mercy nods. "Oh see, that's true. See, you teach me to cook, I give up my baking secrets. Well then" Mercy says with a look, "I give up my baking secrets, see, this is how it goes. And you learn as well, and I'll ask lots....and lots of questions" Mercy points out. She's not saying her thought, that Shannonsn's almost like a little sister Mercy never had. Well she's not saying it....yet anyhow. She's smarter than that.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon laughs. "See, I don't see why cooking and baking have to be mutually exclusive. I bet you're better at both than you think. Now some of the stuff I've seen online... you know, molecular gastronomy and all that fancy stuff... that's stuff I can only dream of doing. Now basic stuff like some good mac 'n cheese... some good chicken soup... chili... things like that, sure. Stuff you'd see in some fancy bistro? Yeah, right. I'm not quite -that- good."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
Nachos, dip, bad movies, chilli. Some pasta, yeah" Mercy grins looking pleased. "Or....maybe hmm....maybe" she says and looks thoughtful again, "Maybe some noodles in soup, or pasta in sauce or perhaps a salad?" Mercy ponders aloud, "Now I'm hungry. No fair" she jibes and looks to Shannon, before grinning.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon giggles and... smirks. Yes, smirks. "You're welcome. By the way," she adds. "Pasta from scratch isn't all that hard to make. Dirt-cheap, and tastes way better than the dried stuff. So yeah, we could do any of that stuff sometime, really." She settles back some, leaning back on her hands and sprawling out on the blanket. "What 'bad' movies do you like?"

Mercy Thompson has posed:
"I know right?" Mercy asks with a grin and nods. "Pasta is good, dirt cheap and, yeah, tastes great. It's good" Mercy admits, "Add in sauce, some tomatoes, yeah" Mercy grins looking over, counting on her hand. "Tomatoes, vegetables, pasta, some chicken, maybe some mushrooms" Mercy says and looks to her fingers watching Shannon with a sage nod. Mercy though grins at the idea of food. Looking amused, Mercy nods. "See, you're creative. I'm just boring when it comes to food" Mercy grudgingly admits. Her fridge and kitchen will agree.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon giggles, and makes a little snorting noise of derision. "Pffft. Seriously, you're probably just not giving yourself enough credit. Just with pasta alone, there's a whole lot you can do, just by changing the toppings around. Okay, so you can do tomatoes, and veggies, and chicken. What else? Think for a second."

Mercy Thompson has posed:
"Spaghetti, some cheese, maybe some sausages" Mercy says with a nod. "Mushrooms, too. Bacon, maybe croutons" Mercy adds and grins. With a flourish Mercy pulls out her phone, handing it to Shannon.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon chuckles and gets her phone out as well, and numbers are exchanged. "See, now we're talking. I'll fire you off recipes I find. Oooo, I've got one for lasagna that's dead easy, I promise. You don't even have to pre-boil the noodles!" Yeah, there's this odd feeling that both ladies' phones are likely to blow up with messages back and forth. Maybe Mercy's found a bit of a kid sister after all.