Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ugh, it was hot as hell outside and her yoga instructor thought it would be a good idea to have class outside in the park today. Normally, Mercy was down for being outside among nature and s**t, but never in 90 degrees plus weather. Here she was sweating her a** off in her new yoga pants and Nike sports bra, trying to remain focused despite her ever-increasing body temperature. She was so very happy when her teacher announced that they were almost done for the day, meaning she could totally go home and shower before trying to arrange some more hang out time with Ryan and Lily. She just met them not too long ago but she really felt a connection with both of them and wanted to strengthen and explore that. <******** its hot....

----

Camera in hand, Jack had settled somewhere near the small pond at the middle of the park, waiting and watching for something to catch her eye so she could capture it through the lens. She wasn't it there every day , but a few times a week, to be sure. Or at least that's how often she'd tried to make it before the unfortunate event from a couple of weeks back with the, what was it? Senshi? And the giant spider that's tried to make a meal out of her before the Senshi had stepped in to save her.

She'd avoided the park after that for a while, fear keeping her away, and then anxiety keeping her from being able to stay in the park for longer than a few moments at most. But it was beautiful here. She didn't want to lose it as a place to use for her photography.

So little by little, she'd forced herself back, always during the day when there were a lot of people around, and only for about an hour at a time still.

Today was quiet, there wasn't much going on, not with people and not with animals. With nothing else to hold her attention, Jack had lifted her camera towards a yoga class that had set up not too far away from the picnic table she was sitting on. Not a traditionally popular model, but she had to admit, as she snapped a few pictures, the poses they were able to hold were pretty impressive.

-----

As Mercy stretched into her next pose, she felt a sense of calm wash over her. If only she could incorporate her yoga into her patrol nights. Its been a boring year for her and she hoped it would pick up. She hasn't run into any youma or Nega surprisingly considering they were everywhere in the news. But maybe that's because she kinda didn't want another run-in. The scar on her left side was a sore reminder that some people just didn't care. That stupid wolfman was one of those people.

She was stretching into her final pose, catching sight of someone with a camera, making her smile. If they had a couple more inches on their height and beach curled blonde hair she would think Ryan was stalking her. When her instructor announced that class was over, she picked up her things and jogged over to the photographer, smiling. "Hey, noticed you snappin pics over there~ Are you with a newspaper or blog maybe?"

------

The class was wrapping up and Jack was slipping the camera's strap off her neck to shift it to her lap, ready to take a quick glance through what she'd gotten when she realized one of the girls from the class was jogging over to her. Oh s**t, she noticed me taking pictures.. Dark skin darkened further still, shoulders tensing, and there was an apology half out full lips before she registered the question fully.

"N-no, I'm not. Sorry. I'm a photography student, and some of the, um. Poses." She flicked her hand as if that would make sense of what she was saying. "It was impressive. Made some pretty silhouettes. Very, um, dynamic." It was quite the over explanation, and the blush lingered. "I could delete the ones I took of you if you wanted. I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable."

------

Mercy laughed and shook her head, awwwwe, how cute. "Nonono sweetie! I was just curious. I have an acquaintance that does photography as well~" she tilted her head, long black hair spilling over her shoulder. "Could I see some of the pictures?" She was a selfie queen but she couldn't really take professional pictures like Ryan or the girl in front of her. "If you like, I can model for you if you need more pictures?" She has always wanted to be a model since she was a little girl, before she fully understood just why her mom always told her no.

------

The tension started to ease from narrow shoulders and Jack gave a smile that was equal parts relief and embarrassment. "Oh. Oh yeah, sure. Let me pull them up." It was a surprising, but the delightful turn of events. Instead of an angry subject, she'd stumbled upon a photography lover who wanted to model.

Quite the stroke of luck.

Holding the camera up, Jack riffled through the pictures until she reached the ones of the yoga class, then tilted it so the other girl could see. They weren't all of her, but there were a few with her at the center. "That's a great offer, but I don't actually have any projects due at the moment." She chewed the inside of her lip for a second or two, dark eyes lingering on the other girl. Dark hair, dark skin, lovely smile and nice curves. "But, it's never a bad idea to expand on a portfolio."

------

"Oh wow! These are all good~" how she managed to make Angie look like a supermodel was beyond her but damn she was good. She didn't miss the look in the girl's eyes, smiling and biting her lower lip just to see how she would react. "Well if you ever want some practice or if you want to expand that portfolio, I can give you my number?" Flirting was fun no matter a person's gender or sexuality and this girl was pretty cute~ Also looked like she had some meat on her bones which was also a plus.

-----

"Yeah?" Jack chuckled a hint of self-doubt coloring her voice as she tucked a curl back behind the shell of her ear. "Thank you. It's really all just angles, and timing. You guys did all the work. Those poses don't look easy." Especially not in this heat. For a spring afternoon, it was almost boiling, and Jack was thankful for the bit of shade she'd found to sit beneath.

The offer of the other girl's number had the photographer blinking up at her. "Oh, uh. Yeah, sure. That'd be great." And then it occurred to her that they hadn't even introduced themselves yet. Fumbling the camera in her lap a little, Jack offered a small, dark hand. "I'm Jack, by the way."

-----

Mercy gave Jack a smile, nodding in agreement. "They really aren't, but we've been practicing for the past couple of weeks so it's not too bad." She adjusted her bag and towel, fanning herself and writing down her number.

"Mercy~" she shook her hand gently, "Nice to meet you, Jack. Do you feel like going someplace a bit cooler? I'm boiling right now."

-----

Taking the number, Jack gave Mercy wide eyes as she asked about going somewhere else. "Er, yeah." It was incredibly unexpected, and not the sort of thing Jack was used to dealing with. "Yeah, I mean, if you want to?"

She looked the strap of her camera around her neck and slid off the edge of the table, palms smoothing her skirts down automatically. "Did you have someplace in mind?" Please say yes, cause I'm really out of my depth here.

------

Mercy thumbed over to the yogurt land that was just across the street from the park. "We could go there~ If you're not a fan of yogurt then I can think of other places." She really just wanted to get somewhere cool and since she didn't want to leave Jack (having just met her), going home wasn't on the agenda. It was strange to run into a Jack that was female since the last Jack she met was most definitely of the male category. Mercy rolled her eyes at that and shook her head while waiting for an answer.

------

Bright eyes flicked up and over Mercy's shoulder to the yogurt place, and really that was probably as good a place as any. And if the yogi was hot, then frozen yogurt would definitely help. "Sure, frozen yogurt sounds good.". She smiled again, putting the lens cap on her camera. "Just let me grab my bag."

The bag in question was sitting on the ground beside the picnic table. Jack picked it up and along with it over her shoulder, bruising pine needles and for off the bottom.

--------

Mercy started making her way towards the frozen yogurt shop, her small yoga bag swung over her shoulder. The walk was short and she held the door open for Jack, practically beaming when she saw no line. Either they missed the rush or people are still enjoying the heat.

"Have you had foyo before Jack?"

She was wondering what her favorite flavor was. Hers was taro with honeydew and a bit of strawberry.

"Oh really? What's your favorite flavor?" Mercy grabbed her usual, making sure to swirl it in that perfect lopsided oval shape she usually liked. "I usually come here on hot days and when I feel like I need something sweet but don't want to eat up all my good gelato." She sighed, she really needed to have better spending habits when it comes to food. "Stuff is super expensive now that its become more popular and mainstream~"

She placed a couple pieces of strawberry and those delicious passionfruit pop bubble things on there, topping her treat off with a flood of condensed milk. It was a wonder how she still managed to stay fit with all the s**t she seemed to eat sometimes.