[He had been able to avoid thinking about it for a while. Sure, he was a little thrown after that designer blabbered about his legs in front of freaking Yang Xiao Long, but it hadn't really impacted anything that day and he'd found enough distractions to not stress too hard over it.
So the sudden message? Annoying. He was hoping this was just going to fade away, but if she's calling him out he can't back down.
Instead of speaking an answer he replies with a mental image from his point of view: he's lounging on the couch in his apartment in a pair of shorts, revealing not just one but two gleaming metal prosthetics.]
[With a reveal like that, it may come as no surprise that Yang's initial reaction is visceral enough to be felt over the crystal network. It's a difficult emotion to describe as, while there's still no small amount of anger and betrayal and, yes, shock, there's also no denying there's an instinctual empathy buried underneath, no matter how small.
Perhaps the best way to put it into words would be:]
[Call it a sort of low-key kindred feeling from a fellow amputee. She has no idea what circumstances led to Mercury losing not one but two limbs, nor does she care to ask, but she's fully aware of the struggle involved with adapting to a prosthetic limb physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Of course, with responses like that it's super easy for that feeling to dissipate almost as quickly as it had formed and Yang's control on her temper momentarily slips.]
You think I wanted to hurt you???
[It was a match in a combat tournament so obviously the objective was, in fact, to hurt each other but not actually hurt each other.
The insinuation still stings even now. That was exactly what most people had thought about her.]
Only after you tried to hit me with my back turned!!
[A wave of anger accompanies that, even as she tries to reign her temper back in just as quickly. She's getting too heated about this and she knows it, but dammit is this ever a sore point for her, even after all this time.]
[Technically, he didn't attack her - she was just made to believe he did. But that's splitting hairs, and he doesn't really feel like going down that road.]
Never said you should. I would've done the exact same thing.
[Things were better for him back then - for the first time in his life, things had been going his way, albeit at the expense of others. The fall of Beacon was supposed to be the first major step towards a future where he got to be on the top of the food chain.
[The thought of doing anything exactly the same as Mercury would have sets her teeth grinding. She doesn't enjoy hurting people. ...Fighting people, yes. Winning, definitely; the more decisive the better. But never to the point of causing lasting harm if her opponent was anything other than a Creature of Grimm.
That question catches her somewhat off-guard however, suspicions instantly raised and prompting as vaguely an affirming answer as possible out of her.]
I didn't make it all the way to Haven on just my good looks.
Good, because everyone I've gone up against here is terrible.
[To be fair Squall wasn't that bad, and most of the others have been Pokemon trainers whose monsters put up a good fight, but fighting against a Pokemon isn't the same as fighting against a person and even Squall had to use a summon of some sort to take him on.
It's just not the same.
They'd gone at it for a little while at Haven, but most of the fight had involved the whole group presumably anyway, thanks for off-screening half of that battle RT. Still, when it was just him against Yang she wasn't bad. He needed that to keep his own edge sharp.
... Or maybe, really, he just needs to know that he's stronger than her. That in a fight without interruptions, without interference, without ulterior motives, he's better.]
So if you're not afraid of getting that pretty face messed up, let's throw down.
[Yang thinks that over for just a moment before answering.]
No thanks.
[It's said flatly, like she can't believe Mercury thinks she's that stupid or something.]
I don't have to prove anything to you.
Besides, I've got plenty of sparring partners.
["Plenty" might be over-selling it a tad, but she does have options. Never mind that she would literally rather have anybody else for a sparring partner than Mercury.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
WOMP WOMP
So the sudden message? Annoying. He was hoping this was just going to fade away, but if she's calling him out he can't back down.
Instead of speaking an answer he replies with a mental image from his point of view: he's lounging on the couch in his apartment in a pair of shorts, revealing not just one but two gleaming metal prosthetics.]
Bold of you to assume it's just one.
1/2
Perhaps the best way to put it into words would be:]
2/2
You're one high caliber son of a bitch, you know that?
[HE WAS FAKING THE WHOLE TIME.]
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Her comment, however, earns a short laugh - perhaps to disguise the natural discomfort that comes from having some amount of truth laid bare.]
I'm a master of my craft.
[His craft, apparently, is being a jerk.]
Or are you just mad you didn't break a real leg?
no subject
Of course, with responses like that it's super easy for that feeling to dissipate almost as quickly as it had formed and Yang's control on her temper momentarily slips.]
You think I wanted to hurt you???
[It was a match in a combat tournament so obviously the objective was, in fact, to hurt each other but not actually hurt each other.
The insinuation still stings even now. That was exactly what most people had thought about her.]
no subject
[And he puts on his best Yang impersonation, which isn't very good at all but at least gets the point across:]
"That's what you get, you little..."
[A pause. A laugh.]
So yeah! I think you did want to hurt me. Not saying I blame you, but don't act like you didn't feel satisfied for at least a second.
no subject
[A wave of anger accompanies that, even as she tries to reign her temper back in just as quickly. She's getting too heated about this and she knows it, but dammit is this ever a sore point for her, even after all this time.]
I'm not going to feel bad about defending myself.
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Never said you should. I would've done the exact same thing.
[Things were better for him back then - for the first time in his life, things had been going his way, albeit at the expense of others. The fall of Beacon was supposed to be the first major step towards a future where he got to be on the top of the food chain.
Hadn't really panned out that way.]
You gotten any better since then?
no subject
That question catches her somewhat off-guard however, suspicions instantly raised and prompting as vaguely an affirming answer as possible out of her.]
I didn't make it all the way to Haven on just my good looks.
no subject
[To be fair Squall wasn't that bad, and most of the others have been Pokemon trainers whose monsters put up a good fight, but fighting against a Pokemon isn't the same as fighting against a person and even Squall had to use a summon of some sort to take him on.
It's just not the same.
They'd gone at it for a little while at Haven, but most of the fight had involved the whole group
presumably anyway, thanks for off-screening half of that battle RT. Still, when it was just him against Yang she wasn't bad. He needed that to keep his own edge sharp.... Or maybe, really, he just needs to know that he's stronger than her. That in a fight without interruptions, without interference, without ulterior motives, he's better.]
So if you're not afraid of getting that pretty face messed up, let's throw down.
no subject
No thanks.
[It's said flatly, like she can't believe Mercury thinks she's that stupid or something.]
I don't have to prove anything to you.
Besides, I've got plenty of sparring partners.
["Plenty" might be over-selling it a tad, but she does have options. Never mind that she would literally rather have anybody else for a sparring partner than Mercury.]