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Mercy had to admit that she did not like revealing her "secret" identity like that - but it worked. Not to mention something told her that even if she revealed who of the several hundreds of Vtubers out there she was Delilah was the kind to keep that sort of information close to the chest. Not that it was impossible to get doxxed - people did sometimes and it sucked. Some people just... Wanted to know "all the lore" behind a Vtuber.

"Thank you," She said with a nod, both to the tea that was offered and the comment on being proud of her following. "It wasn't easy - it's certainly wasn't cheap... Granted, the nice thing about it is I'm able to expense a lot of it because it IS a business and I went to the trouble of setting up an..."

She stopped, smiling weakly and shaking her head. "You know the drill. tax shelter corporation and all that jazz. I did get a little pro-bono work from my dad's firm to shore up some of the paperwork but other than that... yeah, it's been an adventure that I've quite enjoyed."

She put the phone on the table, closing the payout info and nodding her head. "I canceled my stream tonight to go to the party, kind of glad I did, all things considered."

She reached up and played with her hair again, shaking it out before letting out a long hufff.

"I mean, if half the sorority sisters are as pretty as you are, there'd be no end to the simping." She gave a soft laugh. "But, a plan for another time."

"Duly noted," Mercy nodded. Translation - don't date inside the sorority, got it. Her next question though, threw Mercy for a bit of a loop, and the younger woman suddenly found herself suddenly unsure.

"If I'm honest, I was mostly just going to chat you all up and see what the general vibe was," Mercy offered sheepishly. "If it wasn't obvious, I... really hadn't gone in with much of a plan, to be honest. I'm surprised I made it as far as I did before I got hijacked, given how aggressive the boys were being and you said they get WORSE?"

She puffed her cheeks for a moment and then let the air out in a burst of a sigh.

"In hindsight, I probably would have been that odd frosh girl that you all thought might Rush but hadn't yet," She huffed.

Well okay - firstly, ow, that finely bruised her ego and she was very glad she had not gone for her tea to take a sip when Delilah had started to comment because she most assuredly would have either snorted hot tea up into her sinuses or done a spit take and neither of those would have been a good look.

Instead she managed a small nod. Look - just because the other woman had opened with the caveat for her to not take it the wrong way didn't mean the critique didn't sting like a fresh slap to her rear - not that she was at all familiar with that particular sensation but that was besides the point and not germane to the goings on.

But Delilah wasn't wrong - it had been her quick thinking that had saved Mercy's bacon, and she wasn't about to forget that. Had she come in with a bit more planning and foresight - something she was good with when it came to casework and study... well... Okay - so she'd just need to apply that to her daily life and have several contingencies planned in advanced.

Google was about to become her best friend wasn't it.

As to her the actual question...

"I can count the amount of times I've been told no on one hand," Mercy said. "Of those times, maybe two of them actually stuck - and that was because I wanted them to return my brothers back."

She flashed Delilah a small half-joking smile.

"But... in all seriousness, I..." She sighed. "I grew up the spoiled rotten princess. You know it, I know it, everybody who probably looks at me knows it. To the point that my mother - 'bless her heart'," this line was delivered with a fairly passable deep southern accent, "decided to name her titular character after me, in what I am sure was supposed to be an endearing homage," now her turn took a bit of a bitter turn. "But, you know... you get tired of being called Princess Mercy after the ten hundredth time."

The more and more Delilah spoke, the more and more Mercy realized that she'd been doing the woman the same disservice she'd been thinking the woman had been doing her - or rather - that she had fallen into the trap of expecting Delilah to fit the role of CEO's daughter. But hearing the same statements - more or less - that she'd heard all her own life echoed back at her, and seeing how Delilah responded and spoke with her. Suffice it to say it was a shock to the system, and a bit of an eye opener.

Mercy had always been performative - always ready to slip into the skin that people had expected her to wear in the given moment. There had been a time during her late high school career that she couldn't have told you who she was. It wasn't until she'd discovered VTubing - the freedom of waring a mask - that had allowed her to be her real self.

Delilah didn't - HAVE - that mask. She didn't have an outlet like Mercy did - or if she did it was well hidden. But now the woman was relaxed in her own home, had invited her in to have tea, and was sitting there offering her a helping hand. A mentor to steer her away from the mistakes she had made - to avoid being beat down by the road ahead like she had.

"This might sound stupid," Mercy offered. "Actually, you know what. scratch that. It's not stupid. I owe you an apology. You might not think I do, or maybe you do, but I completely read you the wrong way and for that - I am sorry."

Sitting up a bit more in her seat she gave the other woman a nod. "I'm all ears, Senpai, ready to learn and listen."

And maybe - just maybe - she could eventually talk the woman into an outlet of her own. But not yet - get to know her better first - then offer to let her wear a new skin.

Her own eyes dipped down, and she may have made the not so casual motion of zipping the hoodie she wore so that it not only covered up any potential cleavage but also most of her collarbone as well, leaving pretty much just a window of neck and then face if she threw the hood up.

However at the mention of an MMA cousin she let out a small whistle.

"Well I could see that being an effective deterrent," She said softly. "Granted, that's like walking around with a shotgun when a pistol would do, but I get the sentiment."

That would be like her pulling her Uncle Lucas along with her - which she knew Mary sometimes did when she went to certain events for work - but that was also to get him out there and possibly line him up more work and what have you. Not important in the moment.

"Right, so, wardrobe planning, I'll add that to my list," She added with a smile. "Well, planning in general really - should treat these like a case study."

There was a brief pause in her brain function as the other woman reached out and unzipped the hoodie, her halter top was not necessarily low cut, but due to her... prodigious assets... it still gave her quite the cleavage window. Still it was nice to know that she could be comfortable in her own skin around the apartment - which was orders of magnitudes more impressive than her Uncle's, Well at least one order of magnitude.

She took a moment to savor the tea as she listened to the older woman and let her brain reboot fully. Then skimmed the screen of the phone and nodded at the reply.

"That's good to know," She said, right as the phone buzzed again. "I think that's the cousin." She added.

The preview of the text had been... fairly concerned and fraught with four letter words and offers of violence - so she figured that was the case.

The question was somewhat curious but Mercy wasn't about to decline a polite request from her host, so with a nod she scooted over to give the other woman, a place to sit so that they could both be in frame. Selfies had been a significant part of her high school career with her running friend group - which had now more or less dissipated to their own paths now that they no longer had classes to keep them together.

Unfortunate, but she'd make new friends over time.

She smiled into the camera, giving the other woman a nod. "Whenever, you're ready."

Hey, if it got the man to calm down, she was all for it. The way he'd written she was sure he was about to pop a vessel.

Mercy quickly slipped into a smile that was more cute than coy, not really wanting to go for any sort of spice at all in the image since well - she didn't know who was on the other end - that was, until Deliilah found a photo of the would-be-bodyguard.

He was... not her type - and that probably showed a bit on her face as she took in the image of a man covered in paint that would have probably given her uncle a run for his money in the muscle department.

"He's... very... handsome," Mercy said, trying to find a polite way to describe the man who she was certain was a handful of years older than her and not at all her interests. She could appreciate him aesthetically of course - he was, indeed handsome. But she liked her men less... Brick Wall. Reminded her far too much of her Uncle and that was just weird.

There was a few moments before the next text from Mathias:

She's cute! I didn't think you had a thing for red-heads, I'll keep that in mind.

Was he teasing or serious? Now that was the question.