Mercy On My Soul

Clyde could only scratch the back of his head and laugh shamelessly and nervously as Mercy let loose her sarcastic praise for the cowboy who managed to defeat a cheerleader via Sharpshooter. Wasn't the fact he won all that mattered? Apparently not, Mercy seemed agitated by the fact Clyde was kidnapped by a girl who apparently he should have had no trouble dispatching. Perhaps he shouldn't have let it happen, but Lilly had been striking at his skull the entire match and when she rammed him head first into the mat over and over, it was hard for Clyde to defend himself. But he did feel Mercy was right, he probably should not have had taken much of a beating at all. So Mercy was right, but Clyde tried to keep things light.

"Hmmmmm. I Dunnoooo. Can't say I'd be proud of myself for turning down a chance to be your slave, Ms. Mercy. Doesn't sound like a bad gig at all. Heh Heh. Joked Clyde with a chuckle and a coy grin while Mercy pouted cutely at him. Truth be told, Clyde didn't want to be enslaved by anyone, he had too much pride. But he'd be hard pressed to NOT let himself be Mercy's toy for at least once. Clyde knew he would have probably let Lilly have her way with him once before leaving her behind if he didn't have Mercy on his mind. What would happen if she did pull a Lilly? What could he choose? Lust or Pride?

He looked at her with a slightly bewildered look when Mercy said his suckage would affect her? Clyde actually took that seriously and thought about it. Did it really? Since when though? She went on about this, 2/3 quite valid but one of her points seemed a bit unfair to Clyde. Maybe her frustration was getting to her because she should know how things are run, it was her job right?

"Well Ms. Mercy I honestly don't try to suck at all. I try to be good and look good at what I do even when I gotta take a loss." He told her honestly. "Also... I don't think whatever I do affects you in any way, I mean I'd understand if we were datin', ya know?" What girl would want to date a guy who gets beaten up by psycho cheerleaders? "I didn't choose to fight her either, ya know? We just got booked. And I know it sounds silly but I'm tellin' ya she alot tougher than what I thought too!" Clyde added in a tone that tried to remind Mercy of Booking and not make her seem dumb for forgetting along with trying to tell Mercy that Lilly was not the typical cheerleader.

But when Mercy stated that no one would want the kind of man who's happy being lucky with things falling into his lap, Clyde sighed lightly and went silent, looking back at Mercy seriously now as she expressed what she wanted of him. What she really expected of him. His mouth opened slightly but he couldn't say a word, he knew not what to say. He believed he would be champion until Lilly did a number on him, until he lost easily to Dark Angel. He didn't lose faith in himself, he knew he had the potential, he knew he could be champion, he just didn't know if he would be. But more importantly, he began to understand Mercy a little more.

"...I....Why would... you?" He tried to say something but stopped himself. His face turned red. He thought about what to say and if he should lift up her chin and to look him in the eyes but figured that would be cheesy. He just had to be honest. "...I intend to be Tension Champ, Mercy. One of these days. I'm good at what I do but gettin' my ass whopped was the best thing for me because now I realize I gotta try harder to be the best. I know It's easy ta' say that and I might take a beating but I still get by, always have..." Said Clyde before he smiled warmly at Mercy. "But when I got someone to fight for I'm always better than the best." He told her softly while leaning slightly closer to her.

Clyde may have found an extra set of motivation to push himself again.

"Oh, har har." Mercy said dryly. "In your wildest dreams, buddy." She added. She shook her head at Clyde's explanation. "I think you're totally off base." She began. She was quite aware of how the booking process worked. "If you don't care about who you fight, then you'll only end up with those kinds of fights. You're... completely lackadaisical about all this! You have to be assertive!" She said pounding her fist into her palm. "They'll book you against people who will help advance your career if you make sure to speak up about it! Clearly you're fine with fighting little cheerleaders though." She scowled at him as she said that line.

"One of these days..." She repeated his words and threw her hands up. "I plan on owning my own law firm 'one of these days' but until I had a run of bad luck, I had a plan! I was definitely almost there! What's your plan? Roll around with some little cheerleader gilrs until someone takes pity on you? Sheesh." Mercy let out a sigh as she looked around. "I can't believe you don't know why it affects me too." Her cheeks were flushed red.

She pulled out her little purse and threw down some money for her meal. "Hurry up and pay. We're continuing this conversation, outside People are starting to stare!"

Clyde shrugged shamelessly while smirking. He could only hope that would be his Christmas dream tonight. But on a more serious note he found Mercy's feelings on who he fought to be rather interesting, he moods seemed to change often, especially in regards to him. But he knew she was right, he wanted to take on the toughest challenges but had otherwise been carefree as of late. He hadn't had much motivation since he went into that little drunken spiral.

"Well...Not really... But heck... I got me a match against Makie Akamatsu and she's kinda established 'round here. Also been told I gotta fight Tai fuggin' Kamiya. I mean I ain't just fightin' chumps... All the time..." Clyde tried to say, he rubbed the back of his neck, he really did feel like he could do so much more. But who could he fight?

He looked over and blinked as Mercy went on about 'One of These Days', throwing her hands up and talking about her plans and her bad luck. She wasn't alone. But god help the boy because he didn't understand why it affected her this much. "...Well no I ain't fine. I have trouble knowing I fight women for a living enough as it is." Clyde admitted. "I don't really have much of a plan anymore except make it big somehow. My plans changed when I had bad luck too." Clyde mused. So far it was just live and somehow get rich.

"...Sorry." He apologized for not knowing why it affected her. He had a guess but wasn't too sure. He then scrambled for his wallet when Mercy told him to pay, making Clyde pull out his debit card which was quickly scanned, all while people started to look away from the duo when they noticed Mercy knew they were looking. "They wouldn't be staring if you didn't get all loud..." Clyde thought.

"'Spose I'll make an appointment with the Booker when the holidays are done. But I ain't got a clue who ta' fight..."

Mercy shook her head. She didn't want to hear his excuses. She waited until they were outside again before she started in on him. She let out a hot breath as she stepped back into the cold, crisp air. "I don't want to hear about you having a problem wrestling girls." She said and glared at him. "It's obviously not such a burden that you'll actually stop so don't give me that." That was a little irritating to Mercy. Mercy then began rubbing her temples. "Make it big somehow... Do you listen to yourself talk?" She said and looked at him.

She shook her head and let out a sigh. "If you talk to them, you don't have to pick anyone specific. Just say you feel like you shouldn't need to fight rookies anymore. You want to fight the top competition in the league. They'll find someone that suits you then."

She closed her eyes for a second. "Clyde..." She said in a softer tone. "You're going to have to start growing up eventually." Unlike her previous words, she wasn't yelling or being loud. She was speaking softly. "You need to stop drifting through life and actually live it."

Clyde frowned and rubbed the back of his neck as Mercy grilled him about his job. She was probably right. But he wasn't going to get hired by another promotion who paid as well as AFW did, he didn't even have a GED to get a job. He wouldn't tell this to Mercy though, he felt her words made sense as well.

He didn't know why but he sorta felt a bit bad as Mercy shook her head in frustration and apparent disappointment before sighing, telling him what he should say to the booker to be taken more seriously in the company, all before her tone suddenly shifted into a softer one that made Clyde feel a little weak in the stomach and in the knees slightly. Mercy sounded a lot like Bonnie and his Mother now. Was he really still a child inside? He looked over at Mercy with a somewhat red face thanks to her words that seemed to have some concern to them, he sighed and ran his hand through his hair out of frustration.

"...So watcha sayin is, ya want me ta' man up." He muttered while staring at his boots. None of the gals in his life understood. He couldn't just Grow up and be a Man, he didn't have anyone to teach him what that really meant, he was learning as he went... But he wasn't trying anymore either. He was scared. But he'd never let her know that. With a shaky sigh, Clyde shoved his hands into his pockets before looking up at Mercy, realizing there was only one thing he could do.

"Might need a lil' help figuring' out where ta' start ...If you ain't too busy..." If he could manage to drink less and clean up his look, maybe he had room for a little maturity as well. As much as it made him uneasy about doing something he never did before. Fighting was easy. Growing up was something he never did. He always ran from it.

Mercy let out a sigh as Clyde began to speak. She then smiled just a little bit. "Well... I said it with a bit more erudition, but... basically that's it, yeah." Mercy reached out and grabbed his hand and began walking. "We're going to the train station now." She said and started pulling him along. "I think that... " She started after a moment of silence. ""What you think is a man and what actually is a man aren't quite meeting up." She frowned. She wasn't trying to beat up on the guy. She was trying to get him to understand something. She inhaled and began to try again.

"Let's say that... we were dating, for example." She turned and gave him a sharp look to make sure he wasn't getting any ideas. "How is hoping to make it big someday going to take care of me? It's fine to have big goals and big dreams but if you don't have goals that you can use as stepping stones, then those big dreams you have will just stay up in the sky and you'll never be able to reach them."

She closed her eyes. "It's not rocket science, Clyde." Mercy pulled her hand away. "I shouldn't have to hold your hand, I should want to." Mercy was blushing deeply. "Just... think of something that you need to do to move you forward. That's how you start."

[size=85:dq1h5i6h]"...Eru...Uhh..." Clyde muttered under his breath. He didn't really get what that big word meant. Either way, he had no complaints when Mercy grabbed his hand and dragged him along towards the train station on her orders. He followed her like a good little cowboy with mini steps so he avoided stepping on her heels.

His head slumped momentarily as Clyde stated his vision of what a man was did not fit the true requirements. He didn't take it to heart at all. He never had much of role model growing up other than his mother and a lot of the men he did know were far from anything great. Clyde however couldn't keep himself from smirking slyly back as Mercy when she used the example of them dating and gave him that sharp look. He still took her words into serious consideration though about being real on reaching dreams and achieving big goals, especially if he wanted to take care of her... Wait What?

"Uhhh... Well... I'd guess I'd figure out a way if we were together, ya know? Guess I'd just win the title, do some commercials, endorse stuff, sell merchandise and whatever you know.I mean... I know I'd could get money if I had to take care of you. If I managed to pay off 100 grand to Doctor Matu then I could take care of you..." Said Clyde with pleasent confidence that wasn't exactly shining but it was there. He'd find a way.

He scratched the back of his head after she let him go and made the rocket science comment, his eyes off to the side but suddenly darted up towards Mercy when she made that comment about she should want to hold his hand, his cheeks turned red, and he saw her blush as well. He smiled at her lightly. If that wasn't motivation enough for him to FIGURE OUT HOW to move forward... Nothing else would work. And boy was that a much needed push.

"...I think I got a few ideas how ta' start. I want you ta' want ta' hold my hand too, heh." Said Clyde with a goofy grin

"You're close, I guess." Mercy said frowning. She didn't want to push the issue any further. She continued to make her way to the train station with Clyde following behind him. But she wondered about how he might take her words. So far, he seemed only enthusiastic about the prospect of getting with her and although he pretended to be interested in the rest of it, she wondered. "I mean about... what you're supposed to do." She added.

She walked again until they were at the train station. When they were there, she turned around and looked at Clyde. "You should want to do good for yourself, Clyde. Not for me or anyone else." She said as she looked at him. "Because when you have done something for yourself and made it on your own, you'll have the kind of confidence necessary that will lure women to you without having to try so hard." She nodded.

"It's time to go." She said looking at him as she folded her hands in front of her. "I guess I'll see you around. Thanks for the gifts." She said and smiled. "And, Merry Christmas, Mr. Gastin." Mercy said and turned to leave and get on the train.

Close? Close to her wanting to hold his hand or something!? Clyde's eyes lit up with excitement. Why did she seem less than thrilled about it though? "I mean about... what you're supposed to do." She added. "Oh." Clyde replied sharply with clear disappointment. Got his hopes up a little too high again. Still, he kept following her until they reached the train station.

Her words about wanting to do good for himself made sense. Maybe he should want to better himself instead of remaining a slob until he sees a girl he fancies and then decides he wants to clean up. Only to fall back into drinking and slobbing once she's gone again. Mercy was trying to make him more appealing to a woman, but with Clyde's luck, women just fell into his lap enough as it was. The hot slutty ones, not the classy ones like Mercy, whom he wanted to lure more than anything right now.

He frowned slightly when she said it was time to go. "I... Really hope so. And you're welcome." He told her. "Merry Christmas, Ms. Wrenn." He would reply with a small half-hearted wave of sorts as turned to talk away. Watching her leave like that started to get to him. He clinched his fists.

"H-Hey! Can't I at least have ya' number or sumthin'? Maybe we could do this again sometime? New years is comin' up, ya know..." He tried to suggest while loosening his tie a bit, he felt tense suddenly.

Mercy turned as she heard Clyde's voice. When he asked for his number, she grinned widely. "Not a chance, Mr. Gastin." She said and fluttered her eyes at him flirtatiously. "But you seem to know where my office is. If you're feeling brave then go on and stop by." She closed her eyes and stepped on the train. As the doors closed, she opened her eyes and smiled at him. "I'll get hold of Tension management and see about getting you some better matches." When the door closed, she pulled up her hand and waved at him, watching him as the train pulled away.