forum •Favorite Liar• [one/one]

Started November 26, 2022 by @Dayzed forum

tune

Tamryn stayed quiet as he drove down the road, it had gotten late in the evening and part of him was still on edge about Vixen's clear display of paranoia.
"Yeah, Artemy got out- I'm not sure how he managed that, but they just left him alone after a while. Or at least that's what I heard. Can't say much about Vixen because I didn't know about her affiliation with them either…" He muttered quietly at the end, his hands gripping the steering wheel a bit firmly now.

"Yeah- I think you might be right, we'll go to his place then…" He said, occasionally glancing at the side mirrors outside of the car, but trying to play it off.

-

It wasn't long before they arrived at Andy's uncle's house and Tamryn turned the engine off, sighing deeply and sinking back into the seat. It felt like between all the fear and the need for answers Tamryn didn't have much room for anything else, not even showing Andy the proper affection she deserved from a partner.

"Hey…sorry if I've seemed off these past few days- I know you would understand why, but it still isn't fair to you," He said softly, bordering on a whisper. His eyes looking up at the sky past the car's windshield. It seemed as if Tamryn's mood had come down a lot from the instability he had been feeling previously. Having a goal in mind looked like something that was helping him a lot.

---

As far as Artemy knew, Mercy was one of the brightest women he had ever gotten to know, there had been a lot of girls whom he had gotten himself involved with as a teenager, mostly just friends, but they never quite had what Mercy did. Maybe it was just Artemy's view on things, but he did seem really taken with Mercy's ability to be open with him and not mind a bit of his roughness now and again.

Artemy narrowed his eyes at her, one of his eyebrows arched when Mercy said he worried too much, though, after a second he gave her a small satisfied smile.
"Well, takes one to know one, right?" He said, even though his smile faltered a little at Mercy denying that there was anything wrong. Artemy also wasn't a hundred percent sure if there was something more on Mercy's mind, so he decided to take her words as truth. Maybe she really was just exhausted and he could understand that.
"If you are pushing yourself too much, do us both a favor and give yourself small breaks now and then. I don't want to see you crying, Mercy. Not because there's anything wrong with it, but it just feels wrong to have you work when you're not okay" He spoke, still holding onto her, albeit not as tightly as before, but enough so that there was comfort there.

Artemy seemed to be really fond of moments like these, so when Mercy quickly pulled away there was a bit of confusion there as to why Mercy would feel the need to do so when someone else saw them. Artemy had no problems with people seeing them like that, after all, it wasn't just couples that did those sorts of things, even good friends who cared about each other did those as well.

But Artemy quickly figured that maybe Mercy didn't see him like that or didn't want others to get the wrong idea, so he thought quickly of something to say.
"Nothing at all, I was just capturing Mercy into a hug so she wouldn't be able to kick my ass, it's kind of difficult to move in that position," He said proudly once more as if that was somehow the truth and he was proud to finally subdue Mercy.

Artemy finally took a step away from Mercy and went to greet Jack, peeking over at the donuts and the missing one he had taken.
"Thank you so much for the donuts, I really appreciate that, especially given that I wasn't able to have breakfast this morning," He said casually, opening the box and wasting no time in picking the chocolate frosted one.

"You know, maybe I should hire you here" Artemy joked, knowing that Jack's job paid way more than this place ever could.

“I can’t help but feel kinda bad for Vixen.” Andy sighed, leaning against the window. “I mean, she was awful to you when we were younger, but she seems so… broken. She’s terrified of them. Who knows how many other kids have had their lives destroyed by Nexus.”

And not one of them dared to step out of line. To say something. Of course, Andy didn’t blame them. Such an act of rebellion likely came with horrible consequences. But Andy was an outsider, and there was nothing left they could take away from her. Nothing except for Tamryn.

—

Andy stared out the window as they pulled into the parking lot, looking up at the apartment complexes that surrounded them. She remembered the last time she’d came here. It felt like ages ago, but she had a hard time believing that it had been mere days. So much had happened to them since then. Almost none of it good.

She glanced at Tamryn as he spoke, her heart breaking for him. She knew he had seemed off. She could see it in his eyes and hear it when he spoke to her. But he was still there. He had been with her from the very beginning. It was all she could ever ask for.

“No. No apologies,” she whispered, her voice gentle. “Don’t you realize how wonderful you’ve been? You’ve been through hell, but you still stayed. I wouldn’t blame you for a second if you left at the beginning of all this. I would blame you if you left now. You’re the best boyfriend I could’ve asked for.”

She reached over, holding his face in her hands. If anything, she wanted him to have a normal life. She wanted to stay by his side forever. Was that so much to ask?

“I loved you then, and I love you now.” She leaned into him. “So no more apologies, okay?”

---

“What are you talking about?” She tried to force a laugh as she sniffled. “I am okay—“

Her voice cracked. She buried her face in his shoulder, trying to hide her red, blotchy face. She tried to stop the tears, but the more tried, the worse it got. This was embarrassing. Humiliating, even. What would her coworkers think of this? What about her brother?

Before the thought even left her mind, the arcade door chime rang, and in stepped Jack. Karma was trying to kick her butt this week, and boy, was it doing a good job.

Jack walked over to Artemy, laughing as he clapped him on the back. He was such a good liar. He sat here, acting like Artemy’s friend, when he was soon going to stab him in the back.

“I would run you donuts every morning,” Jack replied. “But how much would I get paid? $15? $20?”

Mercy rolled her eyes. “Not in this economy.”

Jack was about to laugh at the joke when his eyes went to Mercy. He immediately noticed her red eyes and even redder face.

“Whoa. You okay?” Jack began to walk over to her. “What’s wrong?”

Mercy shied away from her brother, stepping closer to Artemy. She loved Jack, but she knew he was aware of why she was upset. He couldn’t comfort her.

Jack raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing about it. “At least take a donut,” Jack said. “Blueberry is your favorite flavor, right?”

“No, thanks. I’m not hungry.”

“Did you eat this morning? Drink anything?” Jack’s eyebrows furrowed. “Something other than alcohol?”

“I just said I’m not hungry.” Mercy’s arms folded over her chest. “I didn’t ask to be interrogated.”

Jack took a step back, holding up his hands. “Okay, okay. They’re there if you want them.”

Tamryn actually knew of the other kids who had been either handed off into Nexus' hands or their parents blackmailed or threatened so hard they had no choice but to give their children up. If they didn't, accidents did happen….is what they had told him.
There was a lot of history in that organization from the first generation who served them to the next generation. There were always stories that went around, that no one knew if they exaggerated, or were the truth.

One of these stories mentioning a kid who had been stolen away from her parent- the girl's father having been a truck driver and when he refused to hand her over, there had been a collision between his truck and another, the truck he had collided into transporting metal pipes- a few of which hadn't been strapped on properly and when the crash happened, they came loose, one of the large pipes piercing through the window and killing the child's father almost instantly.

Everyone brushed it off as an accident, but it hadn't been. That girl's name was Rae, someone who later on was infamously known for leading a biker gang of five, that included Rae. They went down in the organization's history of being the "clearers", wiping out entire gangs larger than them in record time if it was urgent. They also kept people quiet within the organization if they ever thought about speaking about anything that went on behind closed doors.
No one knew what had happened to her in recent years, however, seemingly disappearing off of the face of the earth. There were also no records of her when Tamryn had tried to look her up in Nexus' system.

-

Tamryn looked over at her when she reassured him. He wondered about that. Maybe they were just in such a crappy situation that anything- even his distant nature- was enough. But he knew that wasn't enough.

"Thank you…I…I'll be better though. I know you wouldn't blame me, but I blame me." He said suddenly, firmly, as if he had decided he couldn't stand back anymore. Andy taking the reins was perfect for him, but he couldn't cower behind her forever. In a way, he wanted to be more like Andy, but had struggled so far to be like that- to care about anything else than her and him.

Tamryn smiled at her when she cupped his face, the touch making his face feel a bit hot.
"Okay….no more apologized then.." He said, wondering if he would ever be able to stop apologizing about everything. "I love you too" His voice matched Andy's in how soft it was. "But, let's get inside- being out here is making my skin crawl," He said, his eyes looking over to the building.

---

Artemy took a bite of the donut as soon as Jack had given him a rather hard pat on the back, though, Artemy didn't mind it, it was usually how he and his friends used to treat each other.

He gave Jack a rather amused smile at the prices.
"Try maybe three to four dollars above the minimum wage," He said, also rolling his eyes. He watched as Jack basically made a fuss over Mercy. There was a soft smile on Artemy's face as he watched the two, wondering if he'd get to experience something like that again.

"You know, you should listen to your brother, should eat something," Artemy said gently, but enough to where Mercy could brush him off if she wanted to, watching as she grew closer to him. He wondered what that was about…
"Well, I know this is a bit unannounced but I'm thinking of closing the place down" Artemy paused. "Not indefinitely, I just have a few things to take care of and I would feel bad if I left Mercy running the place by herself" Artemy continued, taking another bite of the donut. He knew it was a rather sudden thing to spring on Mercy, but if he didn't say it now, he would drag this out until time ran out. He had a bad habit of doing that.

And as if on cue, there was another ring at the door. One that made Artemy's heart stop for a moment, nearly choking on the donut as he was in the middle of swallowing it.
It seemed like everyone had decided to stop by the arcade this morning.

The young female looked around the place, sort of scowling at its state as she stepped into the room, two taller gentlemen who were formally dressed behind her, not coming in with her but standing guard at the door.
The young adult had thick long wavy blonde hair, styled in a side part, some pieces pinned back so her curled bangs were the only thing obscuring her vision, if barely. She had very light makeup on this time around, the redness on her cheeks from the Rosacea very much more visible than it had been last night.

She had a French floral mini dress on, the different colors light like spring. On top of it, she wore a short white trenchcoat jacket- low platform heels pulling everything together as they also matched the trenchcoat. Her outfit seemed a bit over the top, looking like she didn't belong around those parts- because she didn't.
Lisette paused when she saw Jack and Mercy, giving them a once over before giving Artemy her full attention.

"I tried to warn you." She said as she stepped closer to Artemy and handed him an envelope. It had an official seal on it, the envelope itself looking like a death sentence- directly coming from a place that held a lot of power. The beige envelope looked mostly plain, with only Artemy's name on the front, written in cursive black ink as if someone had taken the time to do it by hand.

Artemy extended his hand to take the envelope, a serious expression on his face now. He looked over at Mercy and Jack. He knew Lisette would be upset if he didn't introduce her.
"Mercy, Jack, this is….Lisette." He said, Lisette, giving him a hard look. "Lisette Calvert…" He corrected tiredly. "And Lisette, these are my coworkers, Jack and Mercy," He said, not that Jack was a coworker but he saw him enough around the arcade to call him that. He wasn't sure if "friends" would cut it, not wanting to alert Lisette that they meant a lot more to him than he let on.

The Calverts, probably one of the richest families in the states, usually ranking top three, the two other families being in association with them. The Calverts were also well known for their involvement with Nexus and other illegal activities- not that anyone could prove the laws they were breaking. The Calverts were founders of Nexus, their money also going to the government and law enforcement. They were a huge deal but in recent years they hadn't made much of an appearance to the public anymore.

"It is very nice to meet you two" Lisette said, extending her hand to Mercy first for a formal handshake, her facial expression serious and her eyes looking a bit sharp, but it wasn't an intentional look of displeasure, Lisette just didn't look like the friendliest- holding herself to a certain standard when doing business.

“Come on, Artemy. A dude’s gotta make a living,” Jack teased. “Do you know how much gas it takes to get here? To buy donuts? And don’t forget the value of my time.”

Mercy snorted. “You’re an officer. I doubt you would get paid your usual amount doing a job that involves donut runs.”

“That’s a lot of disrespect coming from a woman who’s eating my donuts. I’ll make sure to poison yours next time.”

“Pssh. Poison can’t kill me.” Mercy finally relented, picking, of course, the blueberry donut. “I’m invincible.”

Mercy raised an eyebrow at Artemy comment about closing the arcade earlier. She knew he had a life to live too, but she hoped he wasn’t closing it just to give her time to rest. Their business was already running short on funds. If Artemy kept closing the arcade early, Mercy worried that one day it would close for good.

She opened her mouth to respond, but before she could get a word out, the door chime went off. That was odd. While they had a decent amount of customers throughout the day, not many of them showed up during school hours. Especially in the mornings.

While they did occasionally have a customer at this time, something about people that walked through the door threw her off. Mercy couldn’t place the exact reason for her discomfort until the woman walked up to Artemy, handing him a letter.

I tried to warn you, she had said.

Mercy felt a feeling stir deep in her gut, and no matter how hard she tried to push it down, it only grew. Who did this woman think is? Mercy knew about all the atrocities Nexus had committed, but she’d never expected them to set foot in the arcade.

“A sealed envelope? Really?” Mercy stole a glance around the arcade, pretending to look for cameras. “What are we in, a movie or something?”

Jack sent her a stern warning look. She deserved it, of course, but she couldn’t help but point out how ridiculous this was. Two men standing guard by the door? A sealed envelope with an ominous warning? These people seemed to think that they were in some sort of film, but Mercy knew what they did in the shadows.

Lisette extended her hand towards Mercy and, against her better judgment, Mercy shook it. “Lisette, is it?” Mercy raised an eyebrow. “Well, why you’re here, why don’t you buy some tokens? Play a few games? Pac Mans down again, but we have plenty of others.”

Jack cleared his throat. Mercy would definitely get yelled at for this later. “Ignore her. It’s clear you’re here to talk to Artemy,” he said. “Do you want us to step out?”

Artemy shook his head, his locks swaying a little as he did so.
"Do I look like an ATM to you?" He joked back, knowing that the arcade itself didn't make a lot of money so more than half the time it was up to him to work side jobs to pay off the bills for the place, keeping it alive in a sense.
There was a low chuckle that came from Artemy as he listened to the sibling's banter. Knowing all too well about the poison bit. Siblings really were brutal.

If Artemy was being honest, he knew this place would close down sooner than later, and maybe this was just his way of bracing for his heart to be torn out when the day came. He really didn't want to, but he also knew he couldn't keep up with it much longer. It pained him to think about it being torn down or remodeled onto something else, the business owners who had most of the other buildings signed over to them having wanted this for years, and the only reason the whole building in its entirety hadn't been torn down was because Artemy had refused to sign both the arcade and small apartment in the back over to them.
But….
Maybe it was time.

Artemy looked over at Mercy, trying to appear normal and stifle his laugh at her clear display of dramatics. She was right. This all felt like something ripped out of a cheap movie and he would have shared her thoughts out loud as well, if he knew that Lisette wouldn't be a threat to him.

Lisette, however, did not find it amusing one bit.
"The sealed envelope is to ensure prying" Lisette emphasized while looking straight at Mercy. "eyes don't look at important information meant for one person only. This is between my father and Artemy. It does not concern anyone else" She took the woman's hand and shook it, her grip tightening around Mercy's, a clear action that indicated that she did not like Mercy's first impression.
"It is Lisette." She replied, now listening to the rest of her ramble. Her eyes seemed to soften at the offer of buying tokens and playing the games, even though it was simply Mercy taunting her. She seemed to really have it out for her and Lisette wouldn't blame her.

She swallowed harshly at the words spoken, glancing over at the machines, then Artemy's favorite, the Pac-Man. That one always had issues, like it had purposely been put wrong when sold off to the first owner of the place.
Once Jack spoke, Lisette turned her attention to him, a softer expression on her face now.
"No worries. It is nothing new, and…." She trailed off, glancing at Artemy who had crossed his arms, the letter still in his hand. "There's no need" She waved him off gently. "I'm sure Artemy understands without me needing to say anything" She pursed her lips at him as if disappointed in his decisions.
With that, she dug into her purse and handed Mercy a twenty for coins for the machines.
"I will take you up on that offer if you don't mind," She said, now taking off her coat and holding it in her hands, her eyes looking around, to see if anything had changed over the years, but most of it seemed to be in the same place she had last seen it in.
Artemy gave a long sigh and extended his hand towards Lisette, who in return knew what that meant, handing over her coat to him. He took it and walked over to the coat rack.

Lisette seemed to be keeping her eyes on Mercy a lot as if she recognized her from somewhere but not being able to remember where.
It was finally then that she also extended her hand to greet Jack, a more friendly smile on her face as she did so.
"It is also nice to meet you, I hope I was not interrupting anything," She said, pulling away from the handshake after a second, knowing that she had seen all three of them have a good time- that was, till she came in.

Mercy’s eyes flickered to envelope. Whatever this was, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t often that Nexus risked exposing themselves in front of people not associated with the organization, so it had to be important. That meant that Mercy had to find a way to get ahold of it.

Mercy frowned at Lisette, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that this would likely get her name on some hit list, but part of her didn’t care. She could sense Artemy’s fear of Lisette, and she hated the way Lisette treated him.

“It’s called using email, hun. It’s what most people do,” she replied. “If you get so offended over people prying, maybe hand it to him in private next time and not while he’s at work.”

Jack interrupted, sending Mercy yet another glare. “Ignore her,” he said. “She’s sarcastic with most of our customers. I’m surprised Artemy hasn’t fired her yet.”

Mercy ignored Jack and continued to watch Lisette, the cogwheels in her head turning. Her name seemed familiar. She had probably bumped into Lisette’s name during her investigation into Nexus, but she couldn’t seem to place what role she had in the organization. Jack would probably know.

Mercy was pulled out of her thoughts when Lisette dug into her purse, pulling out a handful of coins. Was she really taking up the offer? This lady was apart of Nexus, but hey. At least she was good for business.

Without another word to Lisette, Mercy went around the counter and quickly exchanged the coins for game tokens. She pushed them across the table to Lisette. “Have fun.”

Mercy watched Lisette for a few moments. Whoever this woman was, she definitely had some sort of power behind her. The body guards said as much. Plus, who was her father? She had mentioned that her father was the one who was sending the letters to Artemy. Was he the one responsible for issuing tasks throughout the organization?

Mercy walked back over to Artemy’s side, giving him a playful nudge. “I’ve never seen you so serious,” she teased, keeping her voice at a whisper. “What was her problem, anyways?”

Lisette didn't say much else to Mercy, knowing that she should be careful of explaining her actions to someone who was not to be trusted. Part of the reason they didn't use emails and did it the old-fashioned way was because when online, if you had the right tools, information like what she was giving Artemy could easily be uncovered and exposed to people who could then use it against them, the Calvert's weren't stupid and knew how to cover their tracks.
Had Mercy and Jack not been there, Lisette would have had Artemy open the letter right then and there, read it, and then destroy it.
Lisette actually hadn't accounted for people to be around Artemy when she arrived, thinking these were the early hours, and hoping to arrive even earlier than Artemy to greet him at the door, but it seemed that Artemy had changed the schedule since she'd last been there- then again, it had been years, it was silly to think that things would stay the same even if they mostly had interior-wise. Besides, Artemy reading the letter was urgent, which was why they had Lisette deliver it in person, but no one would ever know how much thought went into their every action- it was part of the reason why Nexus was so hard to catch doing something wrong. It was why they were so dangerous and had gotten away with a lot of things.

Lisette's eyes trailed after Mercy's every move, very indicative that Lisette was on edge given Mercy's hostility. She looked over at Jack when he spoke.
"I'm surprised too" Lisette commented, her eyes flickering over to Artemy's figure as he put her coat on the rack.

Once he came back he gave them all a look, wondering why they were staring at him.
"What?" He questioned, arching an eyebrow at Jack and Lisette.
"Mmm." Was all Lisette gave in response, now taking the tokens Mercy gave her. "Thanks," She said in a hushed tone as she went over to the invader's game machine and slid some coins into the slot.
Artemy gave a small huff at that, he wondered how much of their childhood had stayed intact. He knew his love for Pacman and sweet pastries were still there, but most of it had been scrubbed away.

At Mercy suddenly nudging him, he looked over at her, a small smile spreading on his face.
"What are you talking about? I'm always serious" He joked, his expression then becoming neutral at her last question.
"She's always been like that while working," He said, letting out a small breath of exhaustion. "Kind of like you, no?" He said, now giving Mercy a wicked grin to tease her, but wondering if that was too far since she didn't seem too fond of Lisette.

Artemy shoved the envelope into the pocket of his coat, not seeming to really care if it got scrunched up and ruined. He'd read it later when he had time for himself. He could only imagine what it said.
But….
This was his chance. His chance to finally be on the inside of Nexus and find out what they had been up to these past few years, even if it cost him. Deep down, he hoped they had taken his bait, and the not knowing what the letter said was killing him, but he had to play it off as being indifferent. His actions however said something different, his hands staying in his pocket to mess with the fidget cube he always carried around.

"But aren't you just a ray of sunshine," Artemy said, his eyes on Lisette as she frantically tried to keep up with the game to keep from losing, an amused look on his face as he said those words. "You seem very on edge yourself, is there something wrong?" He questioned, wondering if Lisette's presence just had that kind of effect. Her brother, Aaron, sure as hell did and he was an intimidating man. Or well, had been.

Part of Mercy regretted being so hostile towards Lisette. Not only could Lisette easily have her killed, but she could provide valuable information about Nexus. But even so, Mercy had to spend a majority of her time with Artemy. He was her priority. Jack didn’t have a specific person he’d been assigned to, so he was free to follow Lisette. And, by the look on his face, she figured that was exactly what he was planning to do.

“Mm, not with me you’re not,” she teased, rolling her eyes at his next comment. She gave him a playful nudge with her elbow. “Oh, please. I’m never that serious. I can be, if you want.”

Mercy went silent for a moment, thinking through her answer to his question. She knew the real reason. Lisette was obviously a powerful individual in Nexus. She had likely ordered the execution of countless people. Mercy couldn’t stand being around a person like that.

“I dunno. Maybe I was too rude? I just… I didn’t like the vibe.” She shifted her view away from him. “And I didn’t like how she spoke to you.”

The second part was true. How people treated Artemy shouldn’t have affected her. He was just one small part of their plan. But she had to admit, she did care about him.

But only a little bit.

She pushed the thoughts about Artemy out of her mind, trying to focus instead on the letter. She knew that Artemy was likely to burn the letter after reading it, meaning she had to be quick. Maybe she could sneak into his house and read it? There was a heavy chance he would destroy it before she even got there. She needed to stall him.

“You wanna do something after work? We can go to your place, watch a movie, maybe bake cookies or something?” Mercy could feel the tips of her ears grow warm. She knew she was desperate for the letter, but she had just invited herself over. How rude. “Uh… only if you want to. I mean, I understand if you have plans…”

But was there a guarantee that she would get to read the letter? The envelope was sealed, making her job even harder. Maybe she could get a new envelope and copy down Artemy’s name on the back? But how would she do that within a few minutes?

---

Jack walked throughout the arcade games, cleaning and looking over them as he had seen Mercy do plenty of times before. He kept his gaze locked primarily on Lisette. He knew enough about her to know that she was the biggest lead they’d gotten so far. He couldn’t let her get away without getting information out of her.

Jack looked away towards Mercy and Artemy, trying to avoid raising suspicion. He sighed and raised an eyebrow at their interaction. The teasing, the touches, the glances. He had seen it all before. Was she faking it? He couldn’t tell, but he hoped she was. He would hate if she was removed from her mission or even from her job entirely.

Artemy let out a soft laugh at that, shaking his head. It was true, he couldn't keep serious for the life of him when it came to his friends or everyday activities- the only times where he was serious was when it came to the place he used to work at and the topic of Astrid, more well known as Aster.

There was very little that could get to Artemy, but once you knew what got to him it was effortless to get an adverse reaction out of him.

He gave Mercy a crooked smile at her nudge and words.
"No thank you," He said quickly, lifting his hands into a defensive position, a now nervous smile on his face. In Artemy's head, a serious Mercy was nothing less than terrifying.

At expressing a bit of regret Artemy simply shrugged, giving her a more sympathetic smile. He didn't really mind Mercy's personality towards others, sure she did come off as a little intense when she very clearly did not like someone- but Artemy was the same way so he didn't exactly see it as a bad thing. At least they weren't pretending to like someone while backstabbing them in the process. If there was something he hated it was that.
Why go through all the effort when you could be straight with the person instead of hurting them in the process?

Artemy gave a hum before speaking.
"I get that, her family usually pulls that reaction out of most people, they're…." He trailed off for a second. "Not the warmest or most welcoming people on earth, but I think your reaction was justified," He said, choosing his words carefully, not because he felt like anyone was watching or listening to them somehow but because he wanted to be somewhat respectful towards Lisette, even though, she could be and was the very definition of a "bitch".

"She does have a way with words, doesn't she?" Artemy joked. "No, but in all seriousness don't take it too personally- yeah, she can be a bit of a bitch sometimes but she has her moments…. She may not seem that great but I won't deny that she has done a lot for me" He admitted, dropping his voice an octave as if not wanting for Lisette to hear even though she wasn't anywhere close to them.

"She's just pissed at the moment is all, give her some time to cool down, I'm sure she wouldn't mind you much- I, on the other hand, can be very difficult to work with when I want something," He smiled again. "I mean, what can I say? I'm a persistent guy" He mused, hinting that his way of being had something to do with Lisette's current attitude towards him.

There were a few seconds of silence as Artemy went back to watching Lisette, there being a sort of softness on his expression every time he looked at her, maybe even a bit of sadness under it all.

When Mercy made the proposition to basically have time together, Artemy paused, blinking a bit in disbelief and turning to her, not because of how bold Mercy was at inviting herself over at his place, but because it felt like they rarely spent time alone. There had always been some hesitation from Artemy's end to invite Mercy over in case she felt like it was too much too soon- knowing that for some, it seemed like a "couple" activity.
He didn't want to make her uncomfortable and send messages that he was into her in case it was not something she wanted. Artemy valued friendships a lot and ruining them over a silly crush was not on his list of things to do. He couldn't lose another close friend….didn't want to- so he was extra cautious in that department.

"Oh-" He paused again, being at a loss for words as he tried not to get ahead of himself. "Uhm…" He tried to think, not because he didn't want Mercy to come over, but trying to remember if he had a decently cleaned apartment- sometimes, he wouldn't deny, he could be a bit messy, and that was not something he wanted Mercy to see.
Having taken a second too long Artemy frantically searched for words.
"Yes! I mean, listen, it's a yes but don't judge me too hard if my apartment is not exactly in top condition- it's a studio apartment annnddd things may or may not be out in the open….you'll have to give me some time to clean" He said, feeling like he was blowing his chance or just seeming like a complete turn-off.

The thing was, Artemy had a lot of research in his apartment, some papers scattered about as he tried to frantically figure things out once he had no longer been a part of Nexus. It was also something he didn't exactly want others to see, some of those papers having explicit information on him.

---

Lisette had almost been close to beating her high score as a child when she had last played the game when her phone went off.
She let out a small groaning sound as she went to take it out of her pocket and answer it. The voice on the other end of the line was loud and the male spoke in angry Russian. Lisette pulled her phone away from her ear if only barely, listening to what the other had to say, a tired look washing over her for a moment.

Once the person on the other line had stopped talking, Lisette answered back, also in Russian, though, her tone wasn't angry, just seeming more frustrated than anything else. At some point during the conversation, she switched from Russian to English again.
"I didn't lie!" She hissed in a hushed tone, trying to keep her voice down as the arcade machine went off, announcing her loss, the words Game Over!! flashing on the screen. "No, I didn't know-!" She spoke, her voice raised a little but pausing when she was interrupted by the other voice.

"N-No….I'm…No, I'm sorry, I'm not angry-" She paused again, listening. "No, I didn't mean to speak to you that way, you're just not listening to me-" She was cut off again. Lisette gritted her teeth but in a way where you couldn't really tell that she was.
It seemed that the heightened point of that conversation took a turn for the worse when there was more yelling, almost loud and clear through the phone.
"Dad!!" Lisette protested, now ditching the secrecy to try and keep her father on the phone, but it was too late as he had hung up on her.
Lisette huffed, taking her phone and now looking at it, the background picture of her and another guy who also had blonde hair on it. He had his arm placed on her head since he was a lot taller than she was, Lisette glaring at him as the picture was forever frozen with her hands above her head in an attempt to get her brother to stop using her head as an armrest, her mouth open as she would have been cursing him out at the time.

After clicking her phone off and pocketing it, she looked over at Jack who she had noticed was going around cleaning the machines. Her eyes narrowed at him in a silent warning but quickly looked away as if too flustered to look at anyone else at the moment. Lisette hung onto her purse, her grip tight around the strap as if someone would steal it- in reality, she was trying to calm her nerves which were now shot from the interaction.
There had been a time when Lisette could do no wrong, her father favoriting her over her brother, Aaron, and devoting a lot of time and love to her, but as the years went by and Aaron had no longer been in the picture, she found herself struggling to keep the man happy- he was terrifying, even to his own family, and Lisette was afraid of him. Even if she wouldn't admit it outright.

“Yeah, warm is not exactly a word I’d use to describe her.” She stepped closer, trying to keep her voice down. “I’m guessing she’s apart of this organization you’re involved in? You scare me sometimes, Artemy. She seems like quite a powerful individual.”

Artemy had already opened up to her about Nexus the night before, but he hadn’t told her much. Still, they were getting somewhere. Plus, now with Lisette in the picture, Mercy could report back to her supervisors that she was getting somewhere in her assigned case. It wouldn’t be a failure after all.

They would be happy to know that Artemy was involved in Nexus again. It wasn’t great for him, but it meant that they had better access to information. Mercy, on the other hand, hated the idea. She hated everyone involved in roping him back into the organization. Everyone including Lisette.

“All of this is really shady, but I trust you know what you’re doing,” she said. “If it gets to be too much, promise you’ll tell someone. It doesn’t have to be me.”

She wanted to tell Artemy about her job. Warn him to get far away from here and never look back. But she couldn’t. If she stepped out of line, if she said one wrong thing, Mercy and her brother could be sent to prison. Her job wasn’t lenient with its punishments.

Mercy smiled faintly at his comment. “Yeah, you are persistent,” she replied. “I would know.”

He would never tell anyone about Nexus. Not even his closest friends. Mercy understood, though. She wouldn’t tell him her secrets either.

“Really. I don’t mind a messy house, but I understand if you wanna clean it first. What time do you wanna meet?” she asked. “That’s if you want to. I know it can be weird having a girl over, so if you don’t want to, don’t feel pressured.”

Boy, was it hard going undercover. Mercy needed to read that letter, but she also couldn’t come off as suspicious. She had to be pushy to get things done, but she couldn’t be too pushy.

But what if he read and burned the letter before she got there? Well, that was a risk she had to take. She needed to prepare for the best and worst case scenarios.

---

Jack watched as Lisette answered her phone in a language that sounded a lot like Russian. Jack used to love studying languages in high school, but he had never learned much Russian. He wished that he had.

Whoever was on the other end of the call, they terrified Lisette. From the few English words he was able to understand, Jack figured the man on the other end was likely her father. He felt kind of bad for Lisette in that moment. He didn’t know much about her relationship with her dad, but he too had a strained relationship with one of his parents. He understood how she felt.

Jack quickly looked away when Lisette glared at him, his face heating up with the embarrassment of being almost caught. Should he approach her? Their training had always taught them not to involve themselves too much with their targets, but it felt like the right thing to do in this situation.

He walked towards Lisette, his hands shoved in his pockets. “Hey. Is everything alright?” he asked. “I wasn’t trying to pry, but… I overheard some of the conversation.”

Well, that was a stupid thing to say. Mercy was the one who was good with people. Not him. Maybe he should do himself a favor and retire from his job early.

Artemy gave a nervous chuckle at Mercy's comment, though tried disguising it.
"She's a friend," He said simply, though, he wasn't so sure about that. While they had been friends in the past, Artemy was unsure if Lisette would cover for him if things went south. The Calverts were known to have a reputation for following orders to a T, so the fact that Lisette had pulled strings for him in the past was a miracle in itself. He wasn't so sure she'd do something like that again and risk her life for it.

Lisette was terrifying in her own right, but Artemy didn't seem too concerned with that, or even the fact that her father could have his head on a stick by the end of the day. He liked to pride himself in the fact that he could get out of anything he got himself into- even if he was way in over his head with this one.

Artemy gave Mercy a grin, one that seemed slightly amused by her words, as if he wasn't taking this so seriously. One of his more fatal flaws. It would surely get him killed one day.
"You think I'm scary? You should have seen the people who raised me" He said, the shit-eating grin still on his face, though, for a moment it seemed to falter as if remembering a few unsavory memories. The people who had raised Artemy hadn't been his biological parents- that history was a whole story in itself. But the ones who had raised him had been kids. Teenagers to be exact. They had been in the same position he found himself in currently.
Surprisingly enough though, they had been great guardians even though Nexus had put them all through hell.

At Mercy showing concern he stared at her for a while, a slight smile on his lips before looking over at Lisette losing her game.
"I know what I'm doing," He confirmed. "To a degree" He looked down at his shoes, as if lost in thought momentarily. "But don't worry, I haven't gotten killed yet. They made me into what I am today, and if I can't outsmart them then I'm useless" and deserve to die at their hands.
Truth was, while he knew his way around Nexus and how to avoid certain things, he was completely in the dark about the more…. important things.
But it didn't matter. He had to get in there and find answers for himself, even if he had to get his hands dirty again. It didn't matter.
It was something he was trying to convince himself of ever since he had the brilliant idea of going back to working for Nexus, even if it was under pretenses. He had to be okay with getting covered in blood, if only once or twice before he got found out.
Even though Mercy said it didn't have to be her, Artemy oversold the idea that he had friends. He had loose ties with people, but it was never people who he had a solid connection to, they weren't people he could rely on for this. So his only choice would have to be Mercy….
"Of course, I'll ask for help if I need it," He said a bit cheerfully. It wasn't a lie. He actually would, but if he could do this alone he would.

Artemy nudged her gently at her comment of "I would know." shaking his head at that, a rather innocent smile on his face. He liked that there were people in his life that knew him like that again. It was a bit tough winging it alone for so long. It made him wonder how some people spent their whole lives doing it.

"Maybe around eight? I'm thinking of closing up tonight so I won't keep anything running until the next morning, which means no more night customers" He sighed at that, as if the thought of keeping the arcade closed at night saddened him a little. But. It had to be done.
"Oh- I uhm, no, that's not…a problem-" There was a faint dusting of red on his face as he answered Mercy's last part. He smiled a little. "I promise I'm usually not this awkward" He laughed, though, Artemy was, in fact, that awkward.

---

Lisette's eyes shot towards Jack, an almost venomous look in her eyes, though it was mostly an attempt at trying to mask the unsettled look she currently had.
"Everything's fine." She snapped, though in that same second regret flashed across her face for speaking that way. It wasn't that she was trying to come off as harsh or cold but Lisette got defensive very quickly even if it was just an innocent question. She had been given reasons to be that way over and over again so she defaulted to it, a natural reaction.

"Everything's fine…" She repeated, her eyes dropping to the floor for a second, though this time she sounded unsure. "My father is stern, is all. You know parents" She gave a poor attempt at a smile which only made her look disconnected from her emotions and a lot more like a cornered animal than anything else. It was very different than how she had walked into the place- acting like she owned it.

After a second of collecting herself and relaxing a little, she sighed, loosening her grip on her purse strap.
She looked him up and down again, not in a malicious way but as if trying to assess what she thought of this guy.

"You work here too?" She asked, her eyes trailing over at Artemy talking to Mercy and the way he kept stupidly grinning at her. She rolled her eyes. The fool was in love and anyone could see that- or well, maybe it was only because she had spent a lot of time with the guy that his mannerisms were easy to pick up and easy to tell how he felt.
"Your friend doesn't seem to like me very much" Lisette commented, wondering why he didn't follow suit in keeping his distance like Mercy. "Are they dating?" She asked casually, crossing her arms, her eyes now landing on Jack once more.
Lisette seemed more level-headed now, the previous edge to her tone gone and replaced with something soft. She seemed almost normal like she didn't belong to a family that should be locked away for the safety of others.

“The people who raised you?” she questioned. “You haven’t told me much about your parents.”

Lying shouldn’t have been that easy, but it was. Mercy didn’t need Artemy to tell her all about his backstory; she knew how he’d been raised. Sure, there may have been a few details she’d missed out on, but she was aware that Artemy wasn’t raised by his parents. Nexus had a habit of taking innocent children from their guardians and raising them to be monsters. Artemy was lucky he had made it out alive.

Mercy’s face softened at Artemy’s comment about him being useless. She shook her head, attempting to move closer to him. “Useless? That’s bull.” She placed a hand on his arm. “You can’t do everything by yourself. Not unless you’re me, that is. Guess I’m just that amazing.”

She smiled at her stupid comment. Anyone else would’ve rolled their eyes or scoffed at her for saying something so dumb, but she knew that it would get a laugh out of Artemy. They had only worked together for a few months, but she felt like she knew him like the back of her hand.

“Eight? Great. I’ll be there.” She sent him a playful grin. “And you? Awkward? Never.”

She returned the elbow nudge before she turned to help a customer standing at the register. For the rest of her shift, she couldn’t get her mind off of going over to Artemy’s place. She tried reminding herself that it was only to get the letter, but she couldn’t her excitement. It seemed as though her feelings from that morning melted away at the thought of getting to spend extra time with Artemy.

---

Jack winced at Lisette’s harsh tone. He wanted to be in her good side to get more information from her, but it was going to be hard. At first, he figured she didn’t like him, but it didn’t take long for Lisette’s tough exterior to melt away. His expression softened at the person he saw hiding underneath.

“Yeah, I get it.” He leaned against the arcade game near her. “Parents… they can be tough. Hard to please.”

Jack didn’t have to lie about that; he knew exactly where she was coming from. Mercy had dealt with their parents before, but he had dealt with the blunt of their disappointment. He wanted to protect his sister from all that he had to go through as a child. When he got older, he finally got both himself and Mercy out of the situation, but he still thought back on it from time to time.

Jack hesitated before answering Lisette’s question. No, he didn’t work there, but he knew his real job would make her suspicious of him. He couldn’t have that. “Yeah, I do. And don’t worry. That’s my sister. She’s like that with everyone.”

Jack glanced back at Mercy and Artemy, looking just in time to see her nudge him yet again. She wasn’t being subtle at all, but maybe they could use this little crush of hers to their advantage. “Nah. Not yet anyways,” he replied. “I’m surprised he hasn’t asked her out yet.”

If Mercy got into a relationship with Artemy, it would make him more likely to spill information on Nexus. Mercy wouldn’t like the idea of “fake dating,” but they needed to do something different. Failing this assignment could mean the loss of their jobs.

Artemy arched an eyebrow at Mercy, a faint smile on his face.
"My parents don't deserve any attention after what they did…" He trailed off. "Except for maybe my mom. She was dealt bad cards from the beginning and while she didn't have an upper hand in anything, she did her best with what she had. I'm not sure anyone would have been so strong to do what she did" Artemy frowned at that.
"I don't remember her, however. She died shortly after I was born I was told, I only ever heard stories from my older brother. He loved her a lot it seemed" Artemy's eyes dropped to the floor, trying to play off the somber look that threatened to overtake him.

He looked back up when Mercy shifted a little closer to him, the faint smile still there. Maybe she felt bad for him, felt she needed to comfort him in some way. This was part of the reason why he never really spoke about old memories or the way he had grown up. He knew it was in human nature to be empathetic but in a way, Artemy felt that it wasn't necessary to feel like that because of him.

A startled laugh came from him as he heard Mercy's words. Some part of him had been expecting her to say something else, maybe tell him how that wasn't true, but what she said was probably a thousand times better than anything he could have hoped for.
While Artemy was very in tune with his emotions and overly sensitive if you pushed the right buttons, he much preferred people making jokes in these situations to feeling sorry for him.
"Oh yeah?" A giant smile formed on his lips. "That's really bold for someone who I bet a hundred percent has had to have her ass saved a few times" He poked fun at her as she went to attend to someone who had been waiting, not even knowing if that was true- but humans made mistakes so he was almost certain it had at least happened a few time.

---

Lisette smiled at Jack's small comment on parents, nodding in return.
"I see, you don't seem alike at all" She spoke, crouching down to the machine to slip one of the tokens into the slot, though, she didn't try for a second time.
"That's because Artemy is a coward" Lisette spoke casually, as if she had permission to be talking about Artemy that way, and she did. At one point they had been really close friends- siblings they had called each other, and Lisette still considered them such, even if current circumstances had put a strain on their relationship.
His incessant want for answers bothered Lisette, it was why on more than one occasion she had to put him in his place.
While it may not seem like it with Lisette's neat fancy clothes and overall polish to her, she was a fighter and had gone through the same amount of training Artemy had. She was no stranger to getting her hands dirty. There were multiple times her hands had gotten covered in blood and dirt, and that wasn't just metaphorically.
One thing that the kids from Nexus had in common was that they took orders to a T, no matter what. It wasn't that they wanted to either, they were never happy to do something like that, but blackmail was such an effective way to persuade someone.
Everyone had something they wanted or needed to protect and Nexus used any angles necessary.

"Whenever he wants something, he hesitates and before he knows it, it gets swept up by someone else" Lisette gave Jack an amused yet knowing smile.
"Well, I'd love to keep chatting, but I have places to be. I wouldn't suggest following me, I'll know" She gave him a sweet smile, a hint of maliciousness there, but most of all, an extreme playfulness. She loved throwing jokes around that were fifty-fifty. Was she really just joking? Or was that an actual threat?
Others had thought it a good idea to stalk her and it never ended well for them if they were caught.

"We can go out on a date or something later, just ask Artemy for my contact info if you find the courage to make a move" She gave him another smile, a much more "innocent" one. Lisette however, was only half joking even though her claims made her seem self-centered. She knew the other guy was not interested in her that way. She had been trained to read people from a young age and knew that Jack was curious about something else. Why else would he have been eyeing her if not for something? Maybe it was her status. Or maybe it was about the more dangerous things, or maybe he had been concerned for her? Slim. She didn't believe that last one. Either way, she loved to gamble. What would he do? Follow her? Contact her? Or do nothing?
With that, Lisette turned to walk over to Artemy again, leaving the small bag of tokens on the arcade machine.

A small smile crossed Mercy’s lips as he spoke, her eyes dancing over his face. While they were close, it wasn’t often that Artemy spoke up about his past. In fact, Mercy was fairly sure that she’d never even heard him mention his parents before that moment. She didn’t blame him. The lives of those associated with Nexus often seemed to be afflicted with tragedy.

Mercy wanted to ask about his father, but from how he spoke about his parents, she doubted he wanted to address the subject.

“She sounds like a lovely person. I’m sure she loved you a lot.” She sent him a warm smile. “How could anyone not love someone like you?”

Mercy cared for him. She wanted to deny it, but she knew she cared for him too much. Much more than her job allowed her to. But, even with her feelings surrounding him, Mercy knew that her work was more important than him. In the end, she would stab him in the back, leaving them both with only memories of what could have been.

Mercy shook the thoughts out of her mind, forcing a laugh at Artemy’s comment. “Oh, please. Me? Needing to be saved? I think you’re talking about yourself.”

She winked at him as she wandered away, heading over to help the customer. Their business picked up throughout the day, and while they didn’t have as much time to talk, Mercy would often steal glances over at her coworker. She wanted to always be close to him, and with her other job, she wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

---

(( I’m gonna insert a time skip in here because I have no clue what else to write for that scene. xD Lemme know if you wanted to add something else and I’ll remove this section ))

When Mercy arrived home, she was even more exhausted than she had been that morning. Normally, she would do paperwork for her other job, take a nap, or maybe binge her latest favorite TV series, but tonight would be different.

After feeding her cat, she rushed to her room to contact her supervisor before she began to fix her hair and makeup. This was the biggest opportunity they’d gotten so far. Artemy’s home was likely a stash of important papers connected to Nexus, and she would even have the chance to find out what Artemy’s next assignment would be. She couldn’t mess this up.

Fifteen minutes before 8 o’clock, Mercy told her cat goodbye before heading over towards Artemy’s home. She arrived a few minutes before 8, and while she loved to be punctual, it meant that she had extra time to rethink all her decisions. Her mind went to all the things that could go wrong, and she began to feel her stomach tighten. She considered turning around right then and there, but she couldn’t. She would get fired if she left.

So, at 8 o’clock, Mercy wandered up to the apartment door, straightened her clothes and hair, and knocked.

---

“Yeah, I guess so.” Jack shrugged. “She’s more like our dad. She’s sweet, but a bit… impulsive, I guess. Stubborn. I’m more like…”

Jack hesitated. Everyone told him he reminded them of his mother. He didn’t like that thought.

“I don’t really take after either of them.”

At Lisette’s comment about Artemy, Jack glanced over at the two lovebirds. They were separated now, both working on different tasks, but he could see the glances they sent to each other. He couldn’t help but scoff. Yet again, she was getting herself in more than she could handle.

“Oh? You think someone else is gonna get swept up but another man?” he asked. “I mean, maybe, but she seems pretty taken with him. I bet she’s too nervous to make a move.”

That, or she knows it would put their mission in jeopardy. Of course, dating him for that information could serve to be useful. He would have to discuss that plan with her later and hope that she wouldn’t mess it up.

Jack raised his eyebrow at her confidence. It surprised him, but he considered taking her up on her offer. Going out on a “date” was a good way to get more information out of her. It seemed to be working for Mercy, after all.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of following you,” he teased. “And maybe I’ll consider taking you up on that offer. But I’m very busy, you know. Working at the arcade is quite the stressful job.”

He snorted as his comment and watched as Lisette left the arcade. He wasn’t sure about the idea of following her, still wary of the warning, but he did get Lisette’s contact information. Afterwards, he wandered outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of her again.

Warmth spread across Artemy's face, a polite laugh coming from him.
"Someone like me…" He echoed, smiling at that statement, but feeling strangely guilty about it too. "But yes, I'm sure she would have loved me when I was younger"

He noted the look on Mercy's face. He knew she cared to some extent- Artemy also cared. A whole lot. There was always the thought in the back of his mind if he was allowed to get just a little bit closer to her. For weeks now, he had wanted to say something on the matter but found he could never follow through with it.
He scoffed at her words, the wink making him only slightly blush. He shook his head as he waved her off and went to the back to get his tools.

The rest of the day felt normal for Artemy, save for the slight anxiety there with knowing that Mercy would be coming over later. At his place.
He worked on the machines that could still be saved and marked the ones that had given out and were only there because the man who came to collect them had delayed their pick up for a month.

Before they knew it, it had been closing time and Artemy had stayed behind as Mercy clocked out. It was like that most of the time, with Artemy tending to a few last touches.

-
(the time skip is perfect actually! haha)

Artemy stepped through the door of his apartment, and shut it behind him. He stood there for five long seconds in the dark, too many things running through his head. After a second longer he finally moved into the larger space that he had decorated with two couches, both side by side, and a square coffee table in the front- debatably closer to the middle of the room. There were other trinkets and "furniture" that made the place look cozier but Artemy had planned to replace them soon as the thought of moving had been persistent in the last three months.

The space was not at all large and the only two rooms in the apartment were the room where his bed was located and the bathroom. To get to the bathroom, however, you had to go into Artemy's room. It had been built into the side of the wall next to where he kept a small desk with a laptop on it.

He looked over the mess that was his "living room" or more so the rest of his living space that wasn't the bedroom. There were so many papers scattered about and he knew exactly what kind of information each one contained. There had been moments where he had gotten a piece of information he had been looking for and just…sat there. Staring at it and not doing much else. It always felt surreal, like he was reaching for something that wasn't there.

For the rest of the time he had between having arrived and the time he was expecting Mercy to get there, there had been a lot of frantic cleaning. Artemy had gathered all the papers and neatly piled them in a box along with older files of Nexus' workers before Artemy and a few others had been "hired". The box then went into the back of his closet.
Artemy's eyes panned over an instrument case that had a lot of wear and tears in it- some parts even looked like they had been melted by something hot. There were a few other boxes with belongings that weren't Artemy's but that he had saved from forever ago.
The door slammed closed as Artemy tried to compose himself. He really had to let go at some point.

Eight o'clock rolled around too quickly for Artemy as he got everything in order. By this time he had showered and changed into something more comfortable, a big pullover sweater with somewhat baggy jeans.
The knock made him freeze as he was in the middle of taking the letter Lisette had given him out of the pocket of his too big of a jacket. His heart raced as he last minute decided to crumple the letter and shove both the messed up paper and jacket into his closet. He'd properly get rid of it later.

Artemy muttered soft words of encouragement to himself as he made his way to the door. Things like You can do this, just be normal. and You absolutely will not make a fool out of yourself, you're good at socializing.

After a second longer he opened the door and gave Mercy a shy smile as he welcomed her inside.
"I hope you weren't expecting a giant loft- I unfortunately can't afford something like that yet" He rambled nervously. The apartment was kind of like a loft apartment, but on a much smaller scale.
"Oh and feel free to sit anywhere, I have beanbags too that I may or may not prefer over the couches" He offered.

---

(you dont gotta reply to this part if you dont want to, this is just to wrap things up a bit :))

Lisette noticed the slight struggle that was there when mentioning his parents. So he hadn't been lying. She knew some people liked to lie to have an advantage over the situation, but that did not seem like the case here.
"Better than turning out to be something terrible" Was all she said, there being a slight jab there at herself but no one would know that.

A small amused sound came from her at Jack's words.
"No, but I could arrange that" She spoke, already trying to figure out who to set Mercy up with. It was a bit of Lisette's specialty, she loved setting people up with others.
She glanced over to the two. "Or give them a slight push, but maybe it's better to see where that goes naturally"

Lisette paused at his "excuse" of being too busy. A smile spread on her face. She quite liked Jack, he was taking her bluntness well.
"Of course, of course, I wouldn't except for anyone to make an exception for me" There was a dangerous sparkle in her eyes as she said it. "Tell your lovely sister I enjoyed the hospitality and that I look forward to seeing both of your pretty faces around," Lisette cooed before making her way out.

Mercy could feel her heart pound as the door swung open and light flooded the dark hallway. She was excited to see Artemy, but at the same time, she wanted to crawl into a hole and die. There were so many ways she could mess this up. What if she said the wrong thing? What if she accidentally got too close to Artemy? None of that should’ve mattered, but she found herself worrying incessantly about it as she walked into his home.

“Nah. I like small apartments.” She avoided eye contact with him as she glanced around the home. “They’re cute. Cozy.”

She pulled her hair over one shoulder, suddenly feel a lot more self conscious than she usually was. She too had changed, but unlike Artemy, she had put on something nicer. One of her favorite colorful patchwork dresses. It was too nice to wear to work, and now that she saw him in his sweater and pants, she felt that she should’ve gone with something more casual. He definitely looked cute, though.

Mercy resisted the urge to scoff at her own thoughts. She wasn’t here to go on a date with the guy or try to impress him with her fashion choices. She had a letter to retrieve.

Mercy sat down on one of the bean bags, leaving enough room for Artemy to sit with her. She pat the spot beside her, urging him to sit down.

“Oh, and don’t worry. I didn’t forget about the cookies.” She reached down, fishing a package of cookie dough out of her purse. “We can watch a movie for a while, maybe bake these later. We can order pizza if we get hungry.”

With everything had planned, Mercy worried that she wouldn’t have time to go retrieve the letter. She considered going to the bathroom, locking the door to the bedroom, and searching for clues about Nexus while she was gone. However, she had to pull it all off without Artemy getting suspicious. If it was too difficult, she could always open a window and try to sneak back inside later.

"Cute is one way to put it" He smiled to himself as he walked Mercy in, gesturing for her to take a seat anywhere- not that there were many places to sit that was.

In Artemy's mind, he was internally freaking out at seeing how dressed up Mercy had gotten for this occasion. He had screwed up again, hadn't he? Sometimes, his dumbassery pained him and how clueless he was to these types of situations. Maybe he too should have worn something nicer, but he thought this to be something casual- not at all like going out to a fancy restaurant. Not that he needed an excuse to dress for her, but he also hadn't wanted to overdress.
Well, congrats, he had undershot it.
Artemy kept stewing in his thoughts, and if you looked closely enough, there was a steam of embarrassment coming from him before he was pulled from them, Mercy patting the beanbag so he could join her.

He awkwardly made his way over and plopped down next to her.

Mercy seemed to know what she was doing, which didn't help with Artemy's convoluted emotions. It felt like he should also know what to do- what to say- but he hadn't ever done this before, especially not with someone he found extremely attractive, someone he wanted to get to know just a little bit more.
Artemy had had friends in the past but whatever they had in the past had stayed there along with his ability to socialize on this level with someone else.
Casual conversations? Fine. Bring it on, but more intimate- or what felt intimate to him, conversations and spending time together felt like he was bound to make a fool out of himself.

At the mention of the cookies though Artemy seemed to find comfort in that, a smile making its way onto his lips.
"You were actually serious about baking cookies huh" He teased her, even though he had hoped she hadn't been joking.
"Also, sorry about- er, how I look- you look so nice and I just-" He started before he caught himself and stopped the train of thought. "Should have dressed better…" He muttered, a shorter version of what he had planned to say before scooting into the beanbag even more, sinking them in lower.
"I was uhm, really surprised when you asked to come over- not a bad surprise though!" He quickly added. "I won't lie, I have…" He trailed off, now fidgeting with his hands and the hem of his shirt, looking like he was internally dying, a light dusting of pink on his face.
"I've wanted to do this- w..with you, just couldn't ever find the right way to approach you" He swallowed harshly at his confession- it was at this point that Artemy had somewhat made it clear that he wanted- or had thought about wanting something a little more with Mercy- maybe not date material more yet if she was skeptical or wanted time to think about it, but just something a little more than what usual friends did.
With that, however, he suddenly got up, a nervous smile on his face.

"I'll get the remote and we can search through and see what we like- then in sayyy…" He trailed off, thinking for a second. "Thirty minutes? An hour? We can order something- also, don't limit yourself to pizza, there are wayyy better things we could be getting" He grinned at her, gaining just enough confidence back to calm himself and act like everything was very very normal.
He was not.

He was awkward. Sure, he was usually a little awkward when it came to her, but it seemed to have gone up a couple of notches. Of course, she wasn’t making it much better. Insisting she go to his house. Telling him to sit on the couch beside her. Sure, she was only doing this to get her hands on the letter, but was that really the only reason?

Mercy could feel the weight shift in the bean bag as Artemy sat down beside her, forcing her closer to him. She hoped that she had worn enough foundation to cover the redness spreading across her face. There weren’t many places to sit in Artemy’s apartment, but she knew for a fact that he could’ve sat somewhere else. Yet, she insisted that he sit with her.

Mercy snorted at Artemy’s comment about the cookies. She wanted to come up with some sort of witty remark, but her brain seemed to have melted into a mound of mush. “Why not? I know you love cookies.” She shrugged. “I got at least three different kinds since I didn’t know which ones you like. Better to be safe than sorry, I guess.”

Was it stupid to admit that? She had spent at least ten minutes in the cookie section of the grocery store, pondering over what he might like. She had even considered getting him flowers, but that seemed like massive overkill. The fact she even considered it in the first place disturbed her.

She paused for a moment, shaking her head. “What? No! You look… nice. Really nice.” She squirmed, feeling like she was choking on air. Had she ever fumbled this much for words? “Your outfit looks comfortable.”

At this point, she was better off leaving right then and there. She always thought she was fairly good at knowing what to say, but right now, she’d never been more embarrassed in her life.

She nodded at his words, trying to turn her attention anywhere else. “Yeah, I just… I thought it was a nice change. Us always going over to my place and all,” she said. “I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable, though. I feel a bit guilty for inviting myself over.”

A bit? It had been haunting her all evening. The feeling of anxiety ate away at her as she drove to her house. Sure, it wouldn’t matter eventually. She would be forced to leave him in the end. But she needed to get close with him if she was to complete her assignment.

She smiled nervously at him as he stood up to get the remote and sat there stiffly as he once again took a seat beside her. She needed to talk. To say something. Anything. But she couldn’t. No matter how hard she tried, words wouldn’t seem to formulate, so she sat there in silence.

A warm smile touched Artemy's lips at Mercy's words- three different kinds of cookies. Just for him. Well, maybe Mercy really was just that polite when she thought of others- she was firm and playful, an unlikely combination, but she pulled it off somehow, and Artemy loved every second of it.

Artemy had thought of teasing her for the overkill on the cookies but instead decided for the opposite.
"Thank you, you know, that means a lot- don't think I've had many people thinking about me to that extent" He gave a soft laugh.

If Mercy had mentioned the flowers bit, however, Artemy would have given her to dorkiest smile that might have looked like he was on the verge of tears, both out of pure amusement and also just overwhelming love that someone would go to such lengths for him.

"Absolutely not," Artemy said quickly at her self-doubt. "I'm glad you did, I'm too chicken and it's been taking me forever to do this so I'm glad at least one of us is bold enough- grateful for it actually.." He muttered at the end, nearly trailing off. "But thank you, it is comfortable- we should just have a warm pajama party sometime now, feels like I haven't done anything fun and childish since I was a kid" He mused at the thought.

After making his way back to her and plopping down he turned the TV on, only for it to flicker on to the animal channel. Artemy was a huge fan of documentaries with animals in them.
"Alright, got the remote, any suggestions on movies you've been dying to watch?" He asked, noting how Mercy became very silent very quickly. There an a small spike of panic that happened inside of him, wondering if he really should be more mindful of his words.
"Uhm…did you want to order now? We could order now if you'd want- I have no problems with that either" He said, looking like he was trying to fix the "situation". What situation? He didn't know, but there was certainly one to him.

She had done too much, hadn't she? First inviting herself over to his home, then getting three kinds of cookies without needing to. She had done it to make sure things went perfectly, but now, she was regretting her decisions. Hopefully he didn't get the wrong idea. Sure, she wanted to get close to him, but not too close.

"It was a bit of an overkill, wasn't it?" She let out a nervous laugh. "But hey, I know how much you like dessert, and I also know that there's no such thing as too many sweets."

Mercy glanced at the door to the bedroom . There was a chance the letter could be somewhere in the living room, but if she had to guess, it was probably hidden somewhere inside Artemy's room. She was going to have to get in there without drawing too much suspicion to herself. Maybe she could use the bathroom as an excuse. But was there even a bathroom in there?

She directed her attention away from her thoughts and back to Artemy. She was taking a lot of risks, but what choice did she have? She knew how Nexus worked. Artemy would get rid of the letter as soon as he finished reading it. He might've already destroyed it.

"A warm pajama party? Sounds like a blast." A smile crossed Mercy's face. He really was like a child sometimes. "I should've thought of that idea sooner."

A pajama party, huh? Of course, Mercy didn't bring any pajamas with her, but the very mention of it give her an idea. It was a way to get into the room without looking too suspicious.

"You know, we could do it now, if you wanted." She shrugged at the idea. "It would take too long to run back home and grab a set of pajamas, but I could always borrow yours."

Before he could respond, Mercy scrambled to her feet. "Why don't you stay here and pick out a movie, and I'll go search for pajamas in your closet," she added. "Sound like a plan?"

"That sounds a lot like something someone I used to know would say" Artemy mused at her words. It was true, even Artemy shared the sentiment- there was no such thing as too many sweets. In fact, he was still celebrating in his mind, trying to hide his excitement that he wasn't just a bit too eager to eat the cookies.
"And it wasn't overkill, I actually really appreciate it contrary to popular belief" He joked, his smile growing as Mercy indulged him with his stupid childish ideas- that smile, however, dropped quickly as Mercy pitched her idea.
"R…Right now? M-Mine?" He gave her a quick shaky smile, trying to hide the sudden panic as he processed her words.
Oh wow, he hadn't thought Mercy would like the idea that much. It had mostly been a joke since he tended to ramble when he was nervous…and Mercy made him very nervous. Not in a dreadful type of way, but in a way where it was apparent that he had a crush on her. And some part of him found it nerve-wracking that she was planning to go into his room. Not that he had anything to worry about, but Artemy was the paranoid anxious type.
There wasn't a moment his mind stopped with all the possible 'what-ifs'.

Artemy's eyes grew when Mercy leaped to her feet, already on the way to his room, but before he could clearly think it through, his mouth was speaking for him again without his consent.
"Yeah! That sounds like a plan, I don't mind at all" His excited smile paired with the red that lightly dusted his face giving away that he was trying to keep himself from vibrating out of his skin at the thought of having a more cozy movie night. It would definitely put a lot of the edge off that he was feeling. He just needed to relax and not feel like he needed to impress Mercy- though, he was pretty sure that ship had sailed and sunk the moment she had arrived.

Artemy himself already looked too casual so he didn't think he needed to change. A deep red took over his face from the embarrassment thinking back on when Mercy had arrived. She had gotten dressed up and everything and he hadn't…
He let out a small groan as he frustratingly put pressure on his eyes, rubbing them slightly. If his best friend were still here, he would have never lived this down.
Still, there was no use thinking about it because the more he did, the more on the verge of tears he would get, so he decided to occupy himself with finding a movie. He didn't know what to choose or what Mercy would prefer but he opted for finding a comedy. Those were always fun and it tied the whole relaxed atmosphere together. Or well….so he hoped.

"Good. Well, next time, I'll bring even more desserts," Mercy said. "Besides, I enjoyed shopping for the cookies. It let me get out of the house for once."

Even though she cooked most of the meals, Jack mainly did the shopping. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but the truth was that wouldn't leave the house for anything. She would go to work and come straight home; that was it. She had been fine with her paranoid way of living as long as she could remember. Well, until Artemy came along.

Ignoring her depressing thoughts, she headed over to Artemy's bedroom. "Yeah, why not?" she replied. "You don't mind, do you?"

Mercy didn't wait for his response. She opened the door to his bedroom and barged inside, leaving him alone in the living room. After locking the door behind her, she immediately began her search. Luckily, the bedroom wasn't too big, but it was messy. Mercy assumed there were many secrets hidden among his belongings, but she couldn't get distracted. She was after one thing and one thing only: the letter.

Mercy grabbed a pair of Artemy's sweatpants and a loose t-shirt before beginning her search through his drawers. When that didn't come up with any results, she began searching under his bed and beneath his covers. Part of her worried that he may have destroyed the letter before she arrived, but she couldn't give up without a thorough investigation.

After searching through both his drawers and his bed, Mercy wandered over to his closet. Not only would this be the most difficult part of his room to search through, but she was running out of time. Artemy was going to start getting suspicious.

With her anxiety beginning to build up in her chest, Mercy began to check through Artemy's coats. She was about to give up with the endeavor entirely when her fingertips came in contact with what felt like a piece of paper in one of the coat pockets. Her heart jumped as she pulled out a letter. Bingo.

This was it. After months of little to no progress, this was the breakthrough she'd been waiting for. With her hands shaking with adrenaline, she opened the letter and scanned through its contents. Before placing it back in the coat pocket, she snapped a picture of it on her phone. She would need it for later.

Now for the hard part of the job. She would have to go back out there with Artemy and pretend that she'd seen nothing.

"Find a movie?"

Despite the tightness forming in her chest, Mercy forced a smile as she walked back into the living room. She had changed into a pair of plaid sweatpants and a loose white t-shirt. While the outfit was comfy, it didn't help calm her nerves.

Instead of heading back over to Artemy, she took out the cookie dough and a pan. "Are you gonna keep sitting there like a deer in headlights?" she teased. "Get your butt over here and help me make these."

(i think if i went back and read all our replies in one sitting, i would find soooo much repetition but i literally cannot keep track of what i've written to save my life 😭)

Artemy gently nodded his head at Mercy's words. It was a nice sort of feeling when others thought of him, that he hadn't been forgotten as soon as he was out of sight. There had been a few times where Artemy had brought things to Mercy as gifts as well, but usually under the pretense that they were things he didn't need anymore and thought she might find useful or stuff he "found". They were never things he happened to just find or not need anymore, but he wouldn't tell Mercy that. Or at least, not until he was sure she wouldn't find it too weird that he had been constantly giving her things here and there that he had actually bought.

Just as soon as Mercy had asked and entered his room, Artemy felt a slight anxiety jolt through him. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Mercy was going to be wearing his clothes and was currently in his messy room, but there was an underlying anxiety about his research in there as well. He mentally kicked himself for not cleaning up better, but he hadn't thought that tonight would have taken this turn.
I mean. It was a good turn of events, albeit nerve-wracking.
As the seconds ticked by and turned into minutes, Artemy found himself constantly looking over to his room's door. He didn't know why Mercy was taking so long- maybe she had gone to use the bathroom as well? Or couldn't find something she'd like to wear? Maybe she was trying on ones to see which would fit better?
The thought of knocking on the door and asking Mercy if everything was okay overwhelmed Artemy. He wasn't usually this nervous- he was a nervous person yes, but not nearly enough to this level.

However, he shoved it down. Being paranoid wasn't doing him any favors and this was his chance to relax. There wasn't anything to worry about- not really. What was the worst that could happen?

So when Mercy finally stepped out of his room in his clothes, Artemy greeted her with a warm smile, a slight blush to him as he paused with scrolling through the movie lists.
"Not yet, but you look comfortable enough- hopefully it wasn't too much of a pain to find" He snickered lightly, poking fun at the fact that Mercy had taken her sweet time. He didn't mind it at all but his nerves told him otherwise. However, none of his feelings were on the negative side of things. It was a lot like butterflies in his stomach, something he hadn't experienced quite as intensely before.
He watched as Mercy made her way into the kitchen instead of towards him, now craning his neck with curiosity when she disappeared into it.
Artemy's face suddenly flushed at the call out, a slightly horrified look on his face as he scrambled to get up from where he was sitting to join Mercy.
"Sorry, sorry-" he gave her a nervous crooked smile, his gaze on her the entire time as she pulled out the dough from the packaging. Had anyone else been there, it would have been pretty obvious the way he admired Mercy, his expression nothing but content with the fact that she was around.

(( SAME like it's so hard to keep up with what you wrote T^T ))

Mercy could feel Artemy's eyes on her as she rolled the cookie dough into balls, but she didn't meet his gaze. She couldn't lose focus now.

"I gotta admit, this whole pajama party was a good idea," she said, placing the dough on a pan. "It sucks that I didn't think of it first."

Mercy couldn't deny that their interaction had been awkward. It was strange, to say the least. Mercy had a closer relationship with Artemy than she had with most of her targets. Well, all of her targets except maybe one.

A shiver ran up her spine. She had almost lost her job because of that incident. She couldn't let it happen again.

Mercy pushed her thoughts out of her mind, trying her best to enjoy the rest of the evening with Artemy. At first, it was quiet. The two of them kept to themselves, simply enjoying the presence of one another. But, after a while, it began to become more like the way things normally were between the two of them. They watched movie after movie, teasing each other and talking about whatever popped into their minds. They got so loud sometimes that she was surprised the neighbors didn't come knocking on the door. She was invested in him that, for a moment, she almost forgot why she was there.

But, like everything else in life, it had to end.

1 A.M. soon rolled around. Mercy wanted to stay until much later, but she had questions to be answered. So many questions.

"Is this how late you usually stay up? No wonder you're grumpy in the morning." Mercy sat up, tossing a pillow in Artemy's direction. "You look like you're about to pass out. Maybe it's time for me to head home."

Mercy went back to Artemy's room and changed back into her clothes before allowing him to walk her back down to her car. An icy breeze greeted Mercy and Artemy as they walked down the stairs of his apartment. As Mercy opened the door to get into her vehicle, she hesitated. She turned back, pulling her friend into an embrace.

She hugged him all the time, but it felt… wrong. Everything felt wrong.

"Don't be a stranger, alright?" she said, pulling back. "I'll text you when I get home."

There were so many words that needed to be said, but none of that mattered now. She got back into her car as Artemy climbed the stairs up to his apartment building, leaving her in the darkness.

She stayed there long after he left, staring into the unknown. She knew she should wait until she got home. Reading the letter right outside his apartment was risky, but she couldn't wait. She had to know what he was hiding from her.

She opened the photo on her phone. It was blurry, but she could somewhat make out the words. She could feel a tightness building in her chest as her eyes traced over the words. She wanted to throw up, but she couldn't now. She needed to call Andy. She typed in the number and held the phone to her ear, her gaze wandering back up to Artemy's apartment.

What had he gotten himself into?

---

Andy was tired. So, so, so tired.

She was lying on the sofa in her uncle's apartment, warm and safe in her boyfriend's arms. This is where she had moved after her aunt's death. She had always felt a strange sense of security here. Now, that seemed like nothing but a distant memory.

She lifted her head, looking at her boyfriend's face. He had been used as a weapon of mass destruction, but here, he looked peaceful. Clearly exhausted, but safe. She pulled herself closer, peppering his face with gentle kisses. If only they could stay there forever.

Andy's phone began to ring. She sighed. She had spoken too soon.

She sat up and picked up the phone, looking at the number on the screen. Wasn't that Mercy's phone number? Why was she calling them back? She considered hanging up, not wanting to deal with any dramatics, but she remembered Mercy's threat about calling the police.

Leaning back into her boyfriend, she answered the phone. "Hello?"