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"You'll probably find the protagonist a bit... familiar should you decide to pick it up," Mercy offered with a slight shrug. "Mom wasn't subtle about her inspiration for the character and I'm sure she would have loved for me to have grown up into the strong willed defiant young Princess Mercy but..." She waved a hand.

"Of course, now she's in talks with Legendary about potentially doing an adaptation," She snorted. "Mom has hinted to me heavily that I should totally audition for the lead role if they get the greenlight - she's already gotten the screenplay half written."

She placed the back of a hand to her forehead. "But woe, I am not an actress, so I doubt I would fulfil her dreams of having me star as the daring and darling Princess Mercy."

She stuck a tongue out and snorted. "Never understood why she thought that I'd be into being a character in her book."

Mercy hummed for a moment at the question, her finger tapping her lips as she gave the question some thought. Her family was a conflux of talent and a lot of that had been luck - and the Haynes genetics she was sure. Or maybe someone up the family tree had made a deal with the devil to ensure that they had great talent and looks to match. The world would never know.

"Well I can tell you that my Aunt Mary is... a bit of an outlier," She said, lowering her finger to tap it lightly against the counter in front of her. "She's passing her classes sure - but I doubt she'll be a very popular journalist. She's more into it for the access to the fun nightclubs and bars when she does the entertainment beat, I won't lie - she's a bit of a lush. Better than when she was younger - or so I've been told - but..." She shrugged.

"I mean," She pointed at herself. "Aside from the VTubing and my family connections there's not really much more I bring to the table aside from an obsession about unicorns and a love for tea..." She snorted a bit out her nose. "Unless you count my looks but that's more a curse half the time than a boon."

When her self-deprecation was not met with the usual societal approval but a rather swift rebuke, Mercy found herself blinking at the other woman, not quite sure what to say or how to respond. She was so use to performing her role that she was now presented with someone going off script, she wanted to look off to the side and ask for her next line - because surely she must have forgotten what it was in this now suddenly improv social play.

But it wasn't a play. It wasn't a normal social interaction. Delilah was coming at her - one woman to another and it caught her entirely flatfooted and unprepared.

Her vision blurred and she reached up to rub the tears out of her eyes before they got too bad, wiping them away knowing full well that the sudden welling of appreciation in her chest was entirely real and justified.

"Thank you," She said, softly, feeling her voice was probably a bit shaky but still. "I've been working really hard - we all have." She said with a nod. "It's not easy, I spend a lot of my free time editing video when I post clips and... researching new games and... Yeah."

"It's kind of killed my social life a bit but, you know," She shrugged. "Like you were saying, Study, Sleep, Socialize, pick two."

Mercy all but melted into the hug. She had not realized just how touch starved she'd been until Delilah had hugged her, it was a simple gesture of warm affection, but Mercy knew that in that moment she would have happily gone to hell and back for Delilah. Now she understood what her father meant about certain members of the White family being neo-aristocracy. REAL nobility came from taking care of others - not yourself - and she could see that in Delilah.

"I can only imagine," Mercy said. "I'm so... tangential to all that. I mean, my grandparents would probably be floored to see where Dad is now - where Lucas is now... Just..."

She took a deep breath.

"We're guppies in this really big puddle and you can imagine my surprise when I get saved by the Great White Shark of the pool, you know?" She gave Delilah a sheepish smile. "I mean, I went to school with my share of remoras and lampreys you know? I wanted to avoid that at all costs - because you know..." She motioned around them.

"The least I can do is promise you that as far as I'm concerned you're just Delilah," She added. "Like, don't care about anything else - you've got really great taste and you're really great to talk to, and I'd really, really like to be friends and just... talk about tea and other stuff - if that's okay?"

Because she didn't care about the money. If she did she'd be cleaving to her uncle like Aunt Mary did. No, if she was going to succeed she was going to do so with her own to hands even if she had to claw her way all the way up from nothing like her father and Uncle had.

"I will remind myself not to use it ever again," Mercy managed a soft laugh. She could see it too, that was the bad part. "Promise."

She took a moment to try and un-ruffle her hair, shaking it a bit to let it fall back naturally around her head and get it out of her eyes.

"I mean I have to deal with lion puns all the time so I feel you."

"You are literally, a saint," Mercy said, slowly standing up from her chair and once more reaching out to give Delilah a hug. It was a tight one, but not clingy. Then she stepped back and brushed her hoodie off. "I would very much enjoy stealing both a shower and your washing machine, if you don't mind sharing some spare clothes."

Because yes, frat row had left her feeling a bit skuzzy, and she didn't want to keep it on her skin much longer than she needed to.

"Thanks!" Mercy said, before hopping to and making her way out of the kitchen toward the guest suite. She wondered how the water pressure was in this place, being this high up, but guested that there was probably a water heater nearby if it was nearly as expensive as Delilah had suggested it was.

Not the kind of place she was going to be able to rent out anytime soon - not without a roommate or six.

But one thing was sure - she was really glad to have made a friend of Delilah. Maybe the day wasn't a complete disaster after all.