(no subject)

[have_no_mercy]

"Mercy!"

The name echoed throughout the halls of Luthor mansion, causing Tess to sigh heavily. It'd been months since she'd heard that voice and wasn't something she'd been prepared to hear today.

Oliver Queen was about the last person she'd been expecting. "The merry wanderer returns."

"Apparently, I can say the same thing about you," the blond cracked as he entered her study, all smiles and good humour. "Heard you ran away to New York. Not really your style, Mercy."

"No, it's yours." It's a pointed jab at their past, one Oliver doesn't fail to recognize, the amusement draining from his expression momentarily. "And I didn't 'run away'. I had business."

"Right. Oh, speaking of business," he continued, half-sitting on her desk where she remained seated, "I just gotta thank you for all your help in San Francisco. Rebuilding a pier, handling all the PR, couldn't have done it without you."

Tess rolled her eyes at him, standing and pacing over to the wet bar. "You had things well in hand. I didn't see any need to interfere, besides..." She paused, pouring out a healthy dose of scotch, "I thought it for the best that all things Luthor kept out of it."

Oliver frowned, watching her wrestle her emotions back down with the alcohol. "Okay. I guess I can get that. You could have at least called him."

And just like that, her walls were back up, a glare pointed straight at him. "I don't need your advice on how to deal with Conner. What do you want, Oliver?"

"Yeah, this is going about as well as I should have expected. I'm waving the white flag here, Mercy. I just thought maybe we could--"

"We could what?" Tess interrupted, hands on her hips, the drink long since gulped down. "Have a couple of beers, hang out and pick colours for the nursery?"

He held up a finger, contemplating. "No, I'm pretty sure that's what the cousins Sullivan Lane are doing. Minus the beer. For Chloe, anyway."

"Sullivan-Queen Lane," she corrected. "Is that why you're back in town? Got bored without the little woman?" Oliver merely shrugged in response.

Tess' eyes widened in shock. "Oh my god, you are bored and you actually thought we could just... hang out."

Another shrug. "We're friends and my options are pretty slim these days what with Boy Scout over in Russia."

"We're not those kind of friends, Oliver. It's the same as I have with Chloe and Lois and you don't exactly see us palling around after work, drinking cosmos and gossiping about shoes."

"Okay. Ouch."

"That's the way it has to be. Not to mention that I have company, so if you'll excuse me?" She motioned toward the door, not that he didn't already know where it was.

Oliver lifted his hands in mock resignation. "Say no more. The last thing I need is to catch a repeat of the Tess and Emil show."

"Get out."

He laughed softly, taking his time to walk to the door where he hesitated briefly, looking back at her. "I'll see you around, Mercy." And then he was gone, leaving Tess to sit back at her desk, resting her head in her hands as yet another Queen induced headache began.

Comments

[bit_awkward]

He nods moving over to her desk to take her glass and fill it up for her. He's quiet for a moment trying to remember if her knew that name, he settled on he didn't, and when he came back he shook his head. "His own category?"

[have_no_mercy]

Tess takes the glass, sipping from it briefly. "Yes. That was an Oliver related incident. It's like he has an inherent ability to be the biggest pain in my ass with the least amount of effort."

[bit_awkward]

"I can't remember if you told me about him or not." He admits keeping his own glass in his hands for a bit. "But that doesn't sound very good at all. I'm sorry that's happened on your vacation. Was it important?"

[have_no_mercy]

"No. Not at all. He's just... Oliver." She sighs, realizing that is completely unhelpful and takes another quick gulp. "We have a lot of history."

[bit_awkward]

"That could be a good thing or a bad thing, but of course I'm sure you know that. That was a bit of a pointless statement." He isn't so sure how to respond to that, but it's mostly just because he doesn't tend to interact with people he has history with. He doesn't have much history with people. He knows them for short periods of time before they cease to interact anymore. So he does the only thing that he feel he can do without really knowing too much more.

"Are you okay?"

[have_no_mercy]

"It's mostly annoying." She takes Gabe's free hand and leads him over to the sitting area. "I'm just continually amazed at how clueless he can be."

[bit_awkward]

"Thoughtless clueless or blissfully unaware clueless?" He inquires as she takes his hand he gives said hand a light squeeze offering her a smile as he's easily lead to the sitting area but insists she sit first just in case there's something she wants before they settle in.

[have_no_mercy]

"Both," she replies after a moment of thought, taking a seat on the edge of the couch. "I don't think he really does it on purpose - most of the time - but just the fact that he doesn't consider our past before he does these things is thoughtless. Yes, we've both moved on and a long time ago, but that doesn't mean it no longer matters."

[bit_awkward]

"Of course not." He settles beside her, though gives her enough distance so that she doesn't feel overwhelmed with his presence. He doesn't need to be on top of her just because she'd feeling this way if anything he'd only make it worse. "Just because you move on from something doesn't mean you've forgotten it, or will ever forget it really, these sort of things linger with you for quite some time. There's no helping that. It's something that defines you as a person so pretending as though it doesn't exist, or simply take into consideration that it does exist, is rather frustrating."

[have_no_mercy]

"Exactly. And now that we're on semi-friendly, good terms right now he thinks it can be completely forgotten, as if it never happened."

She half laughs incredulously, turning toward Gabe. "You know why he came here? He just wanted to hang out. He's bored and not the centre of his own universe for the first time in his life so he comes over here thinking we can shoot the breeze for a while. It's just--" Tess stops and sighs again, then shakes her head. "It's nothing. It's done. Tell me what you've been up to."

[bit_awkward]

"It can't. As much as sometimes you wish things didn't happen, or could be forgotten, they just can't. It's part of learning from your past." He shakes his head finally taking this chance to take a sip of his drink.

"I can see why you're upset. He just expects you to drop everything and entertain him. That's not right. Just because you're on good terms doesn't mean he can just come over when he's bored and hang out. Things like that need to be scheduled when things come to a point where they seemed to have come to with you guys." Which might seem a little extreme but it's true. One has to be prepared for that sort of thing. When you're not prepared you feel a little like deer in the headlights.

"Me? Well I didn't really do much of anything. I was trying to figure out this place. It's huge. I felt like peaking in each room but I didn't do that, it would have been rude, but I did wander the halls."

[have_no_mercy]

Tess could regale Gabe with the litany of sins she could - and occasionally does - hold against Oliver that give her even more reason to be angry, but it's no longer important. She's become so accustomed to shoving feelings aside that her upset has genuinely faded enough at this point.

"It is big, isn't it? I was overwhelmed when I first got here and I still don't think I've been in every room."

[bit_awkward]

He doesn't really feel that that's right. She shouldn't swallow her feelings, especially with Gabe, he wants to hear these things. Sometimes just getting it off you chest helps but on the same flip of the coin he understands all too well that there are some things you just don't wish to share. So he doesn't push despite wanting too.

"Careful. You might find a beast lurking in the castle behind one of those doors." He teases. He didn't see any of the rooms, aside from his own and the kitchen, but he'd counted how many there were and where all the halls lead to and it was quite a bit. It seemed hard to imagine anyone living here but of course he'd thought that about castles he'd driven by as a kid too.

[have_no_mercy]

"I had one once, actually. A beast. I fed him soup, read him a bedtime story and then I let him go." Most people would be joking. Tess isn't.

"This part I had rebuilt two years ago. We had a fire. The rest is still the original. I have no idea what Lionel thought bringing it here. He never even lived in it."

[bit_awkward]

He knows exactly what she's referring to and for some odd reason he gets a sense what she's truly upset about. He nods before speaking. "Not everyone is kind enough to take in beasts, and not all beasts are bad."

Sort of shocked, he has to admit, he didn't even know some parts were newer than others. "Never even lived in it? Well I guess I can see that. Maybe it had sentimental value? I don't know I can see why someone would want to live in it. It's beautiful. From the stained glass pieces to all the detailed woodwork. Pride in craftsmanship. Houses don't have that anymore, that's for sure."

[have_no_mercy]

Oh, Gabe, you actually have no idea. "This one was and I didn't take him in out of kindness. It was a test."

At the latter comments, she sort of smiles. "If I had to guess it was strictly a power move. He did it because he could, even if he didn't give a damn about it. Lex lived here for a while and then me. Otherwise, it's been vacant."

[bit_awkward]

It's a good thing he's willing to admit he doesn't have a clue. If it were someone else they might be upset by the fact. "A test?"

He frowns slightly at that statement but he keeps his thoughts to himself for now. It seems a bit excesive but then again he thought many things were that perhaps others didn't. "Well I'm glad someone lives here now. It deserves it. It's a lovely place."

[have_no_mercy]

"I needed to confirm that he was who I thought he was. When I did, I sent him off to do what he was supposed to." Which is still pretty vague, but accurate.

"I've often thought about selling it, but who would buy a castle in the middle of nowhere Kansas?"

[bit_awkward]

"I see. Still..." He's quiet as he just absorbs. It's hard to understand, in a lot of ways, but only because he's never experienced anything of the sort. He has a boring quiet life. It's a blessing and a curse.

"A lot of people would I bet you. To escape from life and such. Isn't that a thing people with a decent amount of money do? And this is a lovely place."

[have_no_mercy]

"I never know how much to tell you. How much you should know." She looks down at the glass still in her hands. "How much you really want to know."

[bit_awkward]

He seems to take a moment to think about this before answering.

"I want to know as much as I can about you Tess. I want you to know as much about me. I mean... I know our lives are vastly different but I want us to be close. As close as you feel comfortable being."

[have_no_mercy]

She turns the glass in her hands. "Even if it involves learning things about me that aren't positive?"

[bit_awkward]

"Not everyone has positive things in their life." He brushes his hand against her cheek and gives a quick kiss to her forehead. "I think you're perfect, even with your imperfections, and I don't think there's much that could change that view."

[have_no_mercy]

"I'm not perfect, Gabe. Please don't think I am." She glances over at him. "I've done terrible things and what's worse, I'm not sorry for any of them."

[bit_awkward]

"You are. In the sense that I accept your short comings and your successes." To be honest he's more and more used to that as time goes on. There used to be a time where he'd start in on her but he's starting to realise perhaps the world isn't as black and white as most people are lead to believe. "These things happen. I don't think they're enough to scare me away like you seem to think they are. I mean... You've seen me at a lot of my low points and you're still here aren't you?"