#back to the swercy

[thewhizzyhead]

once again this is more of a brainfart but a certain aspect of orphan town has come to mind recently - so obviously the first sets of verses feature the orphans getting ticked off that the reveal that the warriors, the so-called "late night cosmetology class" goers, were present at a gang summit they weren't invited to. the ensuing chorus then features the dudes boosting their rep up, saying that their rumbles are due to be famous and all that - and seeing as the orphans clearly take the lack of invitation as an attack to their ego, fox and swan resort to a well-known tactic used to bring insecure ego-obsessed men to heel: batting their eyelids and making the girls seem small and sweet by saying they were simply just "lost and lonely" while also making the boys feel respected as proper men through compliments ("heavy, heavy") and through asking them for help ("what do you suggest we do") - and this works!!! of course it all goes to shit when mercy challenges their masculinity and dominance by questioning how easily they fall for the warriors' damsel in distress act, but in any case, I find this treatment of the orphans to be another layer of cool and care in recontextualizing the warriors as women - as clearly this is an instance of not only misogyny in action, but in how women have to deal with insecure-ass men through stroking their egos just to get by peacefully, which is obviously not a take one can do if the warriors remained men. also its cool how swan stops the peace act when a.) the orphans seemingly act threatening to mercy ("mercy i'm losing my cool"), so swan, who doesn't know her, immediately jumps to her defense, and b.) when the orphans threaten harm to the warriors ("or we gotta rain down from you, from the rooftops"), causing swan the well-established pacifist to directly insult and attack them. i dunno i just think that's a cool take too that kinda foreshadows how the women are willing to take matters to their own hands once threatened rather than safely play to the tastes of men. anyways woo

[fishinavest]

Smth smth Swercy medieval au

[icarus-summer]

New swercy shortfic! whaat?

Here's what happens when Mercy decides she wants Swan's vest. And Mercy always gets what she wants.

•

“Mercy, the light at the end of this tunnel got nothing on you.”

That’s what Swan said. She didn’t even process what came out of her mouth. It was the truth, however. To her, Mercy shined brighter than whatever light they could find. And the other woman probably didn’t even realize that. She was just naturally like that, which made everything worse.

Swan wasn’t the type to like someone so fast. Usually it took months to her warm up to a new crew member. And even still, there were only a handful she really felt like she could trust.

But Mercy was like the sun. It was impossible to run from her light. And it was way too easy to get burn.

The silence that came before scared Swan. Had she gone too far?

But then, just as her worries grew, Mercy ended the distance between them with a kiss.

It was passionate. Half kiss, half fight. And it burned. Swan’s body went hotter, like a fire ignited inside her. She reciprocated the kiss immediately, holding Mercy as if the girl was about to fall in the tracks.

“The rest of the warriors are waiting...”

“There’s no way they’re already in union square” Mercy said, cutting her sentence with another kiss. As if she would disappear if they stopped kissing for more than two seconds. “We got a couple minutes.”

And Swan caved. Because, if she was being honest, she was never going to put much of a fight anyway. She wanted this just as much and Mercy. Probably more. Ever since she left Coney, this was the first moment where her mind wasn’t worrying about something.

There was only one thought in her mind:

Mercy.

Mercy, she really wasn’t being very merciful right now. Her hands skillfully caressed Swan’s hair, like she knew exactly that this was her soft spot. And her mouth, that damn mouth that had got them in trouble before, was now busy kissing Swan’s lips. And her face. And slowly making her way to Swan’s neck, causing her body to shiver.

She stopped right where Swan’s vest covered her body. Mercy looked up to the taller woman with a side smile and an obvious question in her expression. That was usually when the voice in her head manifested to say something like “you need to get to union square now” or “maybe don’t kiss a girl you just met”. But, again, Swan didn’t have any worries right now. Then, without saying anything, she took her vest off.

Mercy downed her kisses to Swan’s collarbone. Swan responded by putting her hands inside Mercy’s shirt, feeling her warm body in her fingertips and wishing that this moment could last forever.

It was only when Mercy gave her a small bite and she felt teeth sinking in her skin that she woke up from her trance.

“Ouch!” she exclaimed, with a mixture of pain and pleasure.

Mercy answered with an innocent smile.

“Sorry.”

Swan’s whole face went red. God, what were they doing? They were still in public. And that fucking bite would for sure leave a mark.

“We definitely need to go now.”

“Fine by me.”

Swan didn’t even question the change in tune by Mercy. She simply adjusted her shirt, passed her hands through her hair and started walking, with Mercy following behind.

Wait...

She stopped. Was she forgetting something? As she patted herself down, she realized what the problem was. Her vest was missing. The most important thing Swan owned. Where was her head at? She turned back to look for it, only to be met with Mercy’s playful smile. And, of course, she was wearing Swan’s vest.

“What are you doing?”

Swan crossed her arms, a bit amused with the situation, but trying not to show it. It was better not to encourage Mercy’s antics.

“I told you I wanted this vest.”

The ex-orphan simply shrugged, as if that answer explained everything.

“Oh my god... Did you kiss me just to get my vest?”

“No! I kissed you because I wanted you. And your vest.”

The worst part is that Mercy looked fucking good with it too. Swan would’ve believed that she was a warrior, especially with the way her eyes shined with determination. But, to be fair, Mercy would look good with anything. It wasn’t even fair.

“You’re...” Swan found herself suddenly without words to the girl’s antics. “Insane.”

“Insane...ly smart, you mean!”

“No. Just insane.” She rolled her eyes. It was basically impossible to hide her smile. “And I want my vest back.”

“Ha! Good luck.” Mercy got dangerously close to Swan, with her chin up in a challenging expression.  “If you want it back, you gonna have to take it off me.”

Swan finally openly smiled. That woman would be her end. And maybe Swan was fine with that. There were worse ends.

“It’s on, Mercy.”

[alexihollis]

hc that popped in my head after reading a swercy fic by @icarus-summer: even after mercy gets her on vest, she has a fixation with swan's. always stealing it and swan wouldn't mind except it is her vest and mercy has her own. Mercy's response is "take mine, duh", but swan is significantly buffer than mercy so mercy's vest doesn't fit. if mercy's vest fit, that would be a different conversation, but it doesn't, so swan's left running after mercy to get it back so she can go. do. gang. shit. mercy this is important.

and cleon is banging her head in the background because they needed to leave fifteen minutes ago.

Ajax to Rembrandt: how come you never steal my vest?

Rembrandt: ??? i have my own? why the fuck would i???

Ajax: Mercy has her own!

Rembrandt: *squints eyes* why does everyone think im the clingy one of the two of us it is so obviously fucking you

[asthedeathoflight]

The Ajax/Cleon vision is soooo specific but its so real and important to me. We've been talking the swercy + remjax love square but you guys need to understand that if we're talking Warriors polycule the Ajax/Cleon spoke is vital to the whole thing. Its the courtly romance of it all. Its the fact that if Cleon were less dedicated to her role as leader and not just commander, if Ajax were less attached to structure and hierarchy to orient herself in the world, if they were anyone else in any other life, they could make it work. But they're in the one life where they can't. It's about getting drunk just the two of them and just being people for a second, really seeing each other for a second, and then waking up in the morning and going back to the way it was because Cleon will never not feel responsible for Ajax and Ajax will never be able to not lean the whole weight of her faith in the world on Cleon. Its everything they can't have, so its just "you'd better have my back, cause this is happening." Its the yuri of absence.

[gay-barbarian]

I would stay in your corner (part 2)

Part 2 of the Swercy role reversal AU

Part 1

The Warriors and their new friend made their way to upper Manhattan without any more distraction. Swan had stayed silent the whole time, walking at the back of the group. It was too late now to get back to the Orphans. They had all seen her follow the Warriors. Not that she wanted to go back, it was just weird following this gang she knew next to nothing about, just because their second in command asked her. Still better than hanging out with Sully and Jessy.

From the back, Swan could see each member of the gang and tried to make out their relation to each other. Directly in front of her was a girl with a cowboy hat, one that looked younger than the rest of them, one with all her clothes covered in paint and fidgeting with a red spray can paint and the girl she assumed was Ajax. The paint girl and Ajax walked closer together than the rest of the quartet, their hands brushing each other every few steps. They were all talking about comic books and what they would eat once they got home, clearly very friendly with one another.

A tiny bit farther was a woman she recognised as Cochise for having seen her once with Cleon. She looked tired and even a bit gloomy but she still had a smile plastered on her face every time she turned around to talk with the other girls.

At the front of the pack was Mercy. Swan didn’t know what it was with this girl, but something deep inside her screamed at her to follow the girl anywhere, even though a part of her brain was saying the exact opposite. As they hopped on the next train, Mercy turned around and catched Swan’s eyes flashing her a gentle smile. Swan swiftly looked away trying to hide her blush. Since when was she the blushing kind?

They all got on the red line to head downtown. As the train stopped, the House of Hurricane, a gang in overalls and roller skates, flooded the car where the Warriors were sitting. The Hurricanes screamed at them to get out the trains, pointing lollipops at them in a menacing way.

“We heard what you did,” explained one of them. “And the city will never forget what you did.”

Two more spoke with the first “There’s a price on your head for the shit that you did.” They pushed the Warriors and Swan out the train and into the platform, keeping them from going any further.

Mercy was clearly not taking any shit from the other gang. She got in their leader’s face “Well, my mother wasn't much but she taught me just enough not to be afraid of any motherfuckers on skates” She pushed Yaya’s shoulders so he would stumble back. He didn’t.

Ajax intervened by placing herself between Yaya and Mercy “Hey yo, what the fuck. We didn’t kill Cyrus. We’re tryna get home.” Swan was getting confused, what was that about killing Cyrus? This crew couldn’t have done that, they didn’t look that dumb.

Yaya and the other Hurricanes laughed in their faces. “Oh, so you’re innocent? Why not tell anyone then?” Yaya asked in a mocking tone. “Don’t you know running makes you look guilty?”

Another train came by. The Warriors tried to make a run for it, but the Hurricanes stopped them and pushed them in the direction of the stairs. In an instant the Warriors are out the platform and into the street. The whole time the Hurricanes chastised them “If you know some, make it known 'cause quiet girls don’t make it home”. As soon as they had appeared, the Hurricanes vanished.

Everyone seemed confused or angry. Swan watched for Mercy and saw her mumble something looking bummed out, but then Mercy lifted her head and looked at Swan. A soft smile reappeared on her face before she asked “Anyone wanna get some Gray’s Papaya while we're here?”

Once they were all in front of Gray’s Papaya, Fox called out “Roll Call”

“Cochise”

“Cowgirl”

“Ajax”

“Mercy”

“Rembrandt”

Swan glanced at Fox, the only one who didn’t tell everyone her name like they were in fourth grade for some reason. She vaguely heard the young girl murmur to herself “When they said quiet girl they looked right at me”. Swan almost regretted following them but this was still better than sitting around listening to Sully boasting his own ego.

“Cochise”

“Cowgirl”

“Ajax”

“Mercy”

“Rembrandt”

“Fox, and I will make you proud”

Swan felt a pair of eyes on her. Ajax was staring dagger into her head. “Yeah, I got a question”, the mean looking girl grumbled, still staring at Swan but definitely talking to anyone but her. From what Swan could see and hear the others were talking about eating and drinking coconut champagne. No one was paying attention to them.

Ajax tried again “So now this chick’s in the gang, like-” That got Mercy attention. She stepped out of the circle where the other warriors were looking at how much money they had on them, walked to stand beside Swan, rolled her eyes at the antics and told the enforcer to drop it. Ajax turned to her not satisfied with the response.

“No, I wanna know! You can just bring a random girl in the gang because you think they’re cute?” Ajax was getting more and more infuriated with the lack of an actual answer.

Mercy scoffed, what did Ajax thought she was doing “Didn't you do the same with-”

Ajax interrupted Mercy, “Shut the fuck up if you know whats good for you little chief” Swan could see she was trying to be intimidating but the redness of her cheeks just made her look like a tomato to her. Swan found it quite funny how the famously strong and scary Ajax would just blush like that. She wasn’t dumb enough to say anything about it still.

Mercy put her hands up. “Hey, no need to go all attack dog on me I'm just telling the truth”, she said in a teasing voice.

“The truth is she’s not in the gang” Ajax snapped. What’s her problem, Swan thought.

“Damn what's your problem?” asked Mercy who had quickly switched her more relaxed tone for a pissed off one.

Swan finally spoke up in a deadpan voice “You know I can hear you right?”

“Get lost”, spat Ajax still glaring at Mercy.

The girl was rapidly getting on Swan’s nerves. Swan stepped in front of Ajax, forcing the enforcer to look at her “I can go wherever I want”

Ajax growled. “Look you can be Mercy's arm candy all you want you're not one of us.” Mercy was right, Swan thought, she did look like an attack dog.

Mercy opened her mouth to yell at Ajax but Rembrandt interrupted them before she could “Hey, Fox spotted the Furies, y'know the weird gang with baseball bats and full face makeup. They don't look very happy to see us.”

“I wouldn't be happy either if I had to look like a clown all night”, Ajax scoffed but Swan noticed that the enforcer appeared instantaneously more relaxed when she heard Rembrandt’s voice.

Mercy looked towards the street Rembrandt was pointing at. She saw at least a dozen Furies coming at them rather quickly. They looked furious, taping their wooden bats in their hands. Mercy had to make a decision and fast. Cowgirl, Cochise and Fox had moved closer to Swan and the three other warriors. They looked ready to bolt.

“We gotta run, run like the wind”, squealed Cowgirl, her eyes jumping between Mercy and the Furies.

“Do like Wilma Rudolph and sprint!” added Cochise, alarmed.

Mercy peered at Ajax. She knew she could trust her even if they had been arguing minutes before. They had a quick silent conversation. Before Mercy declared “No, we can take them on.”

Ajax was way too happy about that. “Good, cause I'm sick of being wimps”

Mercy ordered her crew around, her best chief face on. “Rembrandt, Fox stay out of their reach as much as possible. Go behind them. Get higher if possible. Cochise, Cowgirl you take them by the sides. They won’t be able to flee. Ajax… you know what to do” The rest of the Warriors nodded, accepting the plan even if some of them looked more scared than anything.

“Yes ma'am”, ajax grinned having seemingly forgotten her anger towards Swan and Mercy at the thought of fighting other people.

“These girls are crazy” Swan mumbled under her breath as she pulled up her sleeves ready to punch some clowns.

[flowersandskeletons526]

Okay no but like listen to me: "The Only Thing Left" by Vincent Lima is a Swercy song to the fucking bones of it

The whole thing is about a couple coming out of the end of the world still together. A main line that repeats in the verses is "I'm/We're one day removed from the worst day on earth" which is them meeting after the peace meeting AKA the worst day ever for the Warriors. The second verse is about walking out of hell towards a new beginning which is swercy walking through the subway tunnel and later together on the train back to coney, looking towards safety, looking towards home.

"Life tried to teach me it only gets worse / but I met you right after the end of the world" Mercy is Swan's light at the end of the tunnel, she meets her after the world falls down like come on.

"I finally trust that you love me / and I finally think I love you" like I'm sorry but Swan "be careful I'm broken" Warchief THAT'S HER. FINALLY BELIEVING MERCY LOVES HER. LETTING HERSELF LOVE MERCY BACK. BELIEVING SHE'S WORTHY OF IT. COME ON!!!!!!

The whole song just gives the vibe of seeing horror and expecting yourself to be the next to fall to it and someone coming in and giving you the strength to keep going on, to make it home, letting yourself love and be loved and doing it even if the next day might be the end of everything.

THAT'S FUCKING SWERCY TO A GODDAMN T!!!!!!

anyway I'm done my ramblings, I've just been listening to that song on repeat while trying to outline a swercy fic and my brain decided to analyze lyrics and make little animatics in my mind instead

[icarus-summer]

Wrote a swercy moment at the 3AM yesterday. Wasn't going to post it, but I thought maybe this would encourage the fandom to write more stuff!

It's essentially A Light Or Somethin' from Mercy's poin of view

•

"What's wrong? Kiss me."

Mercy had never been rejected before. The boys would trip over their feet to get a kiss from her. The girls too. Some of the orphans were actually so desperate that they tried to steal it anyway. So when Swan turned away from her approaching lips, she didn't understand.

"You know, from the moment we came up town, everything's gone wrong." Swan took a step back. "Let's just keep walking."

Mercy felt her lip quiver. She only knew Swan and the rest of the Warriors for what, a few hours? But it felt like it'd been months. Years. Like she knew those women all her life and was just waiting to be reminded of it. No one got her like they did. They had fought together, that had to mean something, right?

Maybe batting some clowns together was not the ideal first date, but Mercy had fun. She felt light and free and happy and a bunch of other things she didn't knew she could feel.

"If I'm everything wrong, why'd you keep me along?" she asked, trying her best to hide the shakiness of her voice. "Tell me."

Swan didn't say anything, just kept still, her back facing the other woman.

"Why stick up for a stranger in spite of the danger?" She took a step foward and held Swan's hand. "Tell me."

Swan turned just slightly, so Mercy could only read half of her expression. Mercy wished she knew what any of that meant.

"Look at me!" She pulled Swan by the shoulders. "What in the hell are you looking for?"

And why wasn't it her? Why couldn't it be her? Swan tried to turn away again, but this time Mercy decided she wouldn't let her. She grabbed her wrist to try to put her hand on her face again. At least so that Swan could look in her eyes.

"Look at me! God, let me know what you're looking for..."

Swan pulled her arm away. It was too dark to see her face right, but she looked upset. Well, Mercy felt the same. She was sick of running away, tired of staying in the background. If only Swan could see what she saw.

"Don't know what you want from me, don't know what you think you see in me." She gave a disheartened laugh, while passing her hand through her hair. Mercy wished she could do the same. Swan's curly hair looked so soft.

How could she think that? How could she not see how perfect she was? Swan was probably the bravest, most courageous, gorgeus and strong woman that Mercy met. No one could compare.

She opened her mouth to say something, but Swan cutted her off immediately.

"Don't tell me you believe in me, you don't even know me! You lonely? You'll be just as lonely in Coney!"

Mercy crossed her arms, uncomfortable on how much Swan seemed to be able to read her. Yes, she was lonely. She was lonely all her life. At seeing how affected Mercy was, Swan's voice gone softer. Her hand went for Mercys arm, close, but not enough to touch her. Mercy's entire body seemed to yearn for Swan's touch.

"Look, I've been in and out of juvie, I was sleeping under the boardwalk when the Warriors came and claimed me. Cleon took me in and named me Swan. Now Cleon's gone, and tonight can't be undone, nothing done can be undone."

Mercy understood that. There was a reason why she was with the orphans. She also had no one. However, unlike Swan, she never had a connection to the Orphans. And before Swan, she never realized how much she craved for it.

"I'm beat up, I'm broken..."

That was not true. Maybe if Swan could just see how Mercy looked at. Of she could see how her eyes lighted up.

"Look at me."

"Do not put your hope in me."

Mercy wasn't going to give up. It wasn't like her. Giving their height difference, Mercy got on her tip toes and pulled Swan's face close to hers.

"What do you see?"

Swan didn't pulled away this time. She reciprocated the gesture, with one hand on her ace and the other safely on her waist.

"Mercy, what do you want me to say? That you're beautiful? Because I think we all know that you're beautiful. You're more than beautiful!"

Mercy felt her heartbeat accelarate even more.

"...More than beautiful?"

She almost wanted to cry. In all her life, she felt like a failure. Like an abnormality. Her beauty was all she had. And it was hard to be beautiful when you lived like she did.

But no one ever saw her more than that. A girl. A beautiful girl. But still a girl.

"You're more than your body! More than these lips..." She rested her hand on Mercy's cheek. Her thumb caressed Mercy's parted lips. "And if we ever someone get out of this place..."

"Then we'll go?"

At the same time Swan said:

"Then you'll go."

No. No, no. Why? Swan was doing this again. Trying to push her away. They could be so good together.

"Find something new."

Swan really couldn't see, could she? She couldn't see how Mercy already had found what she wanted. And it was right in front of her.

"It's all new!"

There was something that both of them could agree on. The light on the end on that tunnel had nothing on them.

Mercy thought Swan was finally ging to kiss her, but then they heard a train noise. Quickly, Swan pushed her against the wall of the tunnel and used her own body as protection.

After the train passed, they knew their moment was gone. They needed to keep walking. They need to get to Union Square. They need to find the rest of the warriors.

"Keep walkin'."

Swan pulled away, but offered her hand to Mercy to hold, which the woman gladly took it. With her free hand, Mercy pointed to the now visible end of the tunnel.

"I think I see a light or somethin'"

[gay-barbarian]

New Swercy fic just dropped! They're totally the kind of people who gets "engaged" with no plan to ever get married (someone said almost the same thing somewhere on here but I can't remember who so kudos to them). It's just a tiny something on this Friday night.

It was a cold winter night, the kind where you can see your breath and hopefully some snow. Cowgirl, Fox, Ajax, Rembrandt, Swan and Mercy were out to celebrate Ajax return from her last trip in jail. Swan didn't wanna be there but she had learned over the past two years that she simply couldn't say no to Mercy when she really wanted something. Of course it didn't help that Mercy threatened to withhold kisses if Swan didn't agree with her. Something that the others must never learn about, especially Ajax. Swan would never hear the end of it.

The night was well advanced when Swan and Mercy finally made their way out of the club. Cowgirl had left with some dude an hour ago winking at the rest of the gang before exiting. Fox had been drinking a lot all night, so much that Ajax and Rembrandt came back from the dancefloor to the youngest warrior sleeping in a half eaten plate of nachos from which Mercy was still picking. Ajax and Rembrandt decided to bring Fox home for her own safety. Ajax put Fox on her back and all three walked out the door together. Rembrandt waved Swan and Mercy goodbye with a smile while Ajax was grumbling and readjusting Fox so she wouldn't slip off.

Once they were alone, Mercy had begged Swan to dance with her. They danced for two songs, Mercy moving all around while Swan just tried to keep her close to her, before they made their way out.

They weren't that far from the apartment they shared with Cleon but Mercy was walking particularly slowly that night so much that Swan had to stop in her tracks a few times to wait for her. “You doing okay Mercy? You're usually faster than me, practically running everywhere.” Swan asked in a teasing voice, turning to her girlfriend.

“Don’t worry, I'm fine! I just don't want to go home yet, I wanna enjoy our time together” Mercy tried to explain, her mind clearly occupied by something else.

Swan cocked her eyebrow “You know we can enjoy our time together somewhere warmer right? I'm freezing my ass off waiting for you”

Mercy walked a bit faster until she got close enough to take Swan’s hand. Swan gently squeezed Mercy’s hand in her own and tried to move on but Mercy stayed put and looked around them. They were alone, which made sense considering it was the middle of the night and the area wasn't occupied even during the day. Mercy took a deep breath.

“What's wrong?” Asked a confused Swan now fully turned toward Mercy watching around her to see if she could spot anything.

“No no no nothing's wrong! I just… I have something for you!” Mercy quickly said, letting go of Swan’s hand to search her pockets.

Swan looked at her perplexed.

“Ah! Got it!” Mercy exclaimed as she fished out a little box from her pocket with a huge smile and looked back at Swan. “So you know how we've been talking a lot about the future lately and how the last two years were the best we both had probably our whole lives and how much I love you? Do you know how much I love you Swan? Anyway, the future. I know we both don't wanna get married and that’s not what this is cause fuck that, but I was thinking and I know I wanna stay with you forever and that everything is easier when I have you with me so don't see this as a proposal but as a promise.” Mercy opened the box still having a strong eye contact with Swan that was frozen in place. In the box was a simple bare golden ring, inside the ring was a tiny inscription that could read “my light”.

“I told you I was loyal to you, didn't I?”

Swan looked at Mercy, the woman she loved. The one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. And couldn't think of anything to say that would be enough to explain everything she was feeling at the moment. She wasn't used to hoping for people to stick around and for someone else to bring her so much joy so she settled for the only thing she knew was true "I love you"

Mercy laughed. A sound that Swan could listen to over and over again until the end of the world. Mercy stood face to face with Swan, their breath mixing and wrapped her arms around her neck. "I love you too. Now instead of standing there doing nothing, why don't you kiss me?"

Swan took her by the waist and closed the small gap between them, tenderly kissing her before deepening the kiss. Time seemed to stop for an instant as both of them just basked in the moment. After some time, Mercy broke the kiss and stepped back just enough to look into Swan's eyes.

"You're stuck with me forever." Mercy said in an exhale as she softly rested her forehead on Swan's. “I know” was the only reply.

They took their time walking home talking about anything and everything, Swan fidgeting with her new ring whenever Mercy let go of her hand.

At the next Warriors meeting, Swan was standing behind Cleon as she talked about that week's jobs. Swan watched every member of the gang to see if they all understood what was expected from them. When her gaze stopped on Mercy she smiled softly and instinctively started turning her new ring on her finger. From her peripheral vision, she saw Rembrandt look at her hands with a knowing smile before the tagger went back to her drawing. Swan got slightly red and let go of her ring immediately as Fox and Cochise looked at her confused and Mercy tried her best not to audibly laugh.

[gay-barbarian]

As far as you can see (which is not very far)

Domestic fluff Swercy for fun cause why not. Swan needs glasses but she's very good at hiding it so no one ever realised it (she reads a lot, what do you mean she cant see), except Mercy.

Swan can see, she's not blind, it's just that she can't see well. The thing is, she was way too poor to afford glasses in her childhood and then Cleon took her in and she didn't want to be a burden. So she got used to hiding it from everyone and it worked pretty well. Apparently Mercy was an exception. 

Not even a week into their relationship Mercy started to have doubts about Swan’s vision. They had gone to an upper scale restaurant because Mercy never went to anything fancier than Nathan's and Swan knew it would make her happy. Swan is smart. She usually already knows what she wants to eat whenever she goes out to dinner so she won't have to read a menu in front of other people. So when the waiter came to ask her what she wanted to eat she confidently said “Cajun chicken pasta, please.” just for the waiter to give her a forced smile.

“Sorry ma'am, the menu has changed recently and we don’t do that anymore. Do you need a few more minutes to check the new menu?”  

Swan was taken aback a little but did her best to hide it. She held the menu upright trying to not put it too close to her face and attempted to decipher the little writing while Mercy asked for her food. “I’ll take the salmon”

Without thinking, Swan closed the menu and quickly said “I’ll take the same!”

Mercy looked at her puzzled before flashing a smile to the waiter thanking him. Once he was gone Mercy asked “I thought you didn’t like fish? You made yourself something else when Cochise made some for dinner the other day”

Swan hated fish, she simply couldn’t eat it without feeling sick. “No no of course I like it. Why would I ask for the same thing as you if I didn’t? I just didn’t like how Cochise cooked it, that's all.” Swan forced a laugh. Mercy squinted, not sure that Swan was not just making shit up for some reason, but decided to let it go and enjoyed her evening. Swan barely ate that night, claiming she wasn’t hungry. 

A few days later, they had to take the train to go get Ajax from jail. Swan was supposed to go alone at first but Mercy had insisted on going with her. Mercy had a map of the train stations on her lap, Swan sitting next to her, her head on her shoulder. Mercy was trying to find where they were going on the map but she wasn't used to the train system and it was way too confusing for her so she relied on Swan to tell her when they needed to get out. 

Mercy showed the map to Swan and turned her head to look at her “How many more stops before ours?” 

Of course the points on the map were way too small for Swan to read without putting the map two inches from her face so there was no way she could count how many stops they had left. She cursed herself for not having checked before leaving. 

“No need to check the map, we’ll know when we get there.” Mercy wanted to argue cause this was definitely not like Swan to act like that but Swan kissed her before she could object making her forget whatever they were talking about.

Ajax had been back for two weeks. Swan and Mercy were doing chores around the apartment they share with Cleon while the chief was out grocery shopping. Mercy was in their bedroom putting their clothes away when she decided to finally ask Swan the question that she wanted to ask for a while now. 

“Hey babe, can you come here for a minute?” Mercy called from the bedroom. Swan came in holding a broom. “Yeah, what’s up? Need help with anything?” Mercy tapped the space beside her on the bed. Swan sat down and examined Mercy’s expression.

Mercy took Swan’s hands in hers and looked her in the eyes “Actually, I wanted to ask you something” Swan’s eyebrow shot up. “Is something wrong?”

"No it’s not that.” Mercy sighed and used her most serious voice “Swan... do you not know how to read? It’s okay if you don't, I'm not judging you!” She added the last sentence very quickly.

Swan stared at Mercy very confused then looked at her librairie then back at Mercy. An awkward silence formed between them.

"Oh yeah, right. That doesn’t make sense… " Mercy sat there pensively for a few seconds “Do you need glas-”

“Swan get your ass over here I need help with the groceries” Cleon interrupted without knowing, her voice coming from outside the apartment.

Swan rapidly stood up and ran towards Cleon, equally eager to help than to get away from her conversation with Mercy.

Saved by the bell.

One day, Mercy was at the bar she worked at with Cowgirl, Ajax and Rembrandt and asked them “Did you ever notice something weird with Swan’s eyesight? Especially from far away” 

Cowgirl and Ajax tried to think of a time where that would have been relevant. Rembrandt spoke first. “She does squint a lot when she looks at my murals, even if she thinks I don’t notice it. She also mostly comments on the colors of whatever art I make more than anything else.” Rembrandt shrugged “ Just guessed she was really into colors”.

“Now that I think about it” Ajax continued “She always moves at the last second to dodge my punches when we spare, always thought it was cause she wanted the element of surprise…” 

“Hummmmmmmmm” Cowgirl was rubbing her chin. The three girls stared at her waiting for her opinion. “I have nothing.” Cowgirl finally said, drinking from the glass in front of her. Mercy let out an exasperated sigh while Ajax snickered. 

“So you think she needs glasses?” Rembrandt asked, sipping her drink. 

“Yes, I think so, but she doesn’t seem to want glasses… I don’t get why” Mercy answered 

Ajax spoke up “Not very useful in a fight”.

Then Cowgirl “She doesn’t have the face for glasses”. 

And finally Rembrandt “Maybe it scares her”.

They all looked at Rembrandt waiting for her to explain. Rembrandt wiggled on her chair from the sudden attention. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t particularly like glass so close to my eyes at all time. Imagine if it explodes and a piece get caught in her eye and she gets blind and Cleon have to find another second in command because you can’t really lead the way if you don’t see shit and Cleon names someone we don’t like as second and they’re really mean for some reason and disappear at night and we discover they’re really a werewolf that was planning to eat us all.” 

Silence. They all stared at her until Ajax bursted out laughing. “No more horror movie for you” Ajax said between two laughs, putting an arm around Rembrandt's shoulder.

That night, Mercy decided to have a real talk with her girlfriend. 

She waited till they were in bed so Swan didn’t have any excuse to flee the situation. Mercy was in Swan’s arm, tracing imaginary shapes with her finger on Swan’s chest. 

“Swan, honey.” 

“Mmh?” 

“You love me, right?”

“Of course, why do you ask?”

“You like seeing me, right?” 

“Mercy… what are you getting to?”

“Why don’t you wanna wear glasses? It would help you so much!”

Swan sat up. “So that’s what this is about” she said in an exhausted tone.

Mercy readjusted herself to look at her. “Yes it is! You know you can take them off when you fight and I’m sure you’re still gonna look as hot with it and it’s really not that scary!”

“Scary? What? Mercy, I just can’t afford it. Why would I be scared of glasses?” 

Mercy shrugged and looked away “That’s what Rembrandt said…” 

“You talked about this with Rembrandt?” Swan asked incredulously.

“... and Cowgirl and Ajax” Mercy said in a little voice.

“Mercy!” 

“I wanted to be sure I wasn’t imagining things! I needed a second opinion.” 

Swan runned a hand down her own face and sighed. 

Mercy took advantage of Swan silence to try to convince her. “You know I have a bit of money aside from the bar. I could help you pay for it.”

Swan's gaze softened.“I can’t ask you to do that, it's too expensive.” 

Mercy took Swan’s face in her hands. “It’s not! It would be a gift because I love you and I want you to be safe.” She gave Swan a quick kiss on the lips to prove her point. Swan melted a little in her touch. “I guess it could work… But if Ajax makes a single comment about it I take them off.” Swan said seriously. 

Mercy let out a little laugh “Deal. Now kiss me and tomorrow we’ll go get you these glasses.”

That’s how Swan came home the next day with a pair of glasses and a new view of everything. Mercy had to use her most intimidating glare to make sure Ajax wouldn’t laugh at Swan, but Ajax stopped wanting to laugh when she realised Swan was even better at fighting when she could see clearly.

[gay-barbarian]

Haven't written in forever but warriors (specifically swercy) has me in a chokehold so here's a bit of angst for yall!

It had been three months since the night Cyrus got shot. Ajax hadn't come back for prison yet. Fox funerals was held a week after the accident. Rembrandt and Cleon made speeches while Swan stayed far behind everyone, Mercy by her sides.

The first few weeks after the funerals were a bit weird for Swan and Mercy, but the new warrior putted that on grief. She knew Swan considered all the warriors like her family and she didn't want to judge anyone grieving process. It was just hard for her to see the woman she loved hurt and not let her help at all.

Mercy thought this would all get better with time, that Swan would open up and talk to her. But Swan kept running away from her whenever she felt an emotion. She went to anyone other than Mercy, hell she even went to see Ajax in prison to talk with her instead of talking to her girlfriend. And Mercy understood, she didn't really know Fox before everything went down so maybe Swan preferred to talk about it with people that understood exactly how she felt. But Mercy was right there when Swan woke up in the middle of the night screaming Fox's name. Mercy tried helping her, but every time Swan would walk out their room to go God knows where.

Mercy was starting to get a worried. She needed Swan to tell her what was wrong. So, one night, after a good day, Mercy decided to sit down and force Swan to talk.

They were alone in the apartment; Cleon being gone somewhere with Masai to talk about their new plan for peace between the gangs.

"Sooo it's just the two of us tonight, what do you wanna eat?" Swan asked nonchalantly while looking in the fridge. "Doesn't seem to have a lot here, maybe take out? Remind me to go grocery shopping soon." Silence. "Mercy?" She turned her head toward Mercy at the lack of answer.

Mercy was sitting on the couch, her serious face on. "We need to talk."

Swan looked at her, confused. She walked towards Mercy and sat beside her "You know it's okay if you don't want take out right? We can find something else."

"Not about food. We need to talk about you and me and us and how you would rather tell your problems to anyone but me." Mercy was trying her best to not to look too mad, but her face always showed her emotions. That might be why Swan started to look uncomfortable.

Mercy took a calmer voice, took Swan's hand and continued "You need to tell me what's wrong baby... Did I do something?"

"No, of course not, what makes you saw that?" Swan knew why. She knew Mercy noticed her leaving every time Fox or that night was mentioned, but playing dumb was her best card.

"Baby... You know I see you dodging me when bad memories get brought up... You can talk to me Swan. I want you to talk to me. I want to help you." Mercy was looking into Swan's eyes trying to make her understand how serious she was about wanting to help.

"There's nothing to do Mercy. There's things I need to work through alone." Playing dumb didn't work, but Swan thought that maybe being giving half truth could work.

"Alone or with anyone but me? Why ask me to come with you if you can't talk to me about anything more complex than what's for diner? Did you just want me to look pretty at your arm? Do you think I cannot be any help to you other than sex?" Mercy was hurt. Hurt that the person she loved the most in this world didn't want to share her pain with her. Hurt that she was kept away for Swan's true emotions. She knew it wasn't fair to be mad at Swan for feeling bad, but she needed answers.

Swan let go of Mercy's hand and stood up. "Fuck, what do you want me to say? That I need you? Shit, Mercy, every time I look at you, I think of that night. I think of Fox, how I failed her. I think of how I let Ajax get beat up and taken by the fucking cops. I think of how fucked up it was to find the love of my life while all this went down..."

A heavy silence filled the room. Mercy followed Swan's lead and got up. She tried to take her hand, but Swan moved to the other side of the room before she could touch her. Mercy's arm fell to her side has she tried to see her girlfriend's face with no success. Swan was looking everywhere but at Mercy. Her eyes filled with tears. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"Look, I asked you to stay, and I meant it, I still mean it, but I need time, okay? I can't shake off this feeling of everything being wrong... don't know if I ever will."

"Swan..." Mercy half whispered not knowing what to do with herself.

Swan walked toward the door not looking back "I will stay at Rembrandt's for a while. You can keep the room."

"I don't want..." Mercy tried but Swan was already gone the door closed behind her "to stay here without you..."

[gay-barbarian]

I Would Stay in Your Corner

Swercy but the roles are reverse (Swan is with the Orphans and Mercy is with the Warriors). It starts at the beginning of Orphan Town.

Everyday felt the same with the Orphans. They lived in a shitty part of town where basically no one came by. Their turf was of mediocre size at best especially considering how many members they were in the gang. It all started as a group to protect actual orphans from living in the street alone, before Sully, the new leader, decided to use the group for his own benefit. 

Swan had entered the gang when she was a teenager running away from home. This place had been her home long enough for her to believe she couldn’t find anything anywhere else. She had never really liked Sully, or most of the actual crew, but she stuck around for the youngest member. Those that, like her, just wanted a safe place to stay.  

The Orphans weren’t particularly nice and even less respected by others, but it was safer than being alone and she didn’t have to worry about food or shelter. She spent her nights walking around their territory making sure no one disturbed them so that Sully wouldn’t declare war on any other gang, and her days taking care of the younglings. 

One night, as she was making usual rounds, she spotted a group of women, all in brown vest with a big red W on their back, the Warriors. Swan had heard of them, of course she had, Cleon, their leader, had imposed herself as a fearless chief chasing anyone with colors that stepped foot on her turf. From the birth of the Warriors, Cleon quickly surrounded herself with an equally scary inner circle. Swan knew of her three lieutenants by name and reputation: Ajax, the main enforcer, it was said that the girl could take down men twice her size easily; Cochise, the second ever member of the Warriors, people said about Cochise that she served in the actual military before joining a gang and was thus not afraid to kill if needed; And Mercy, the second in command, the word getting around was that Mercy was fearless, the girl would say and do anything she wanted just for fun, Sully called her “The crazy chick”. 

Swan really didn’t want to have to deal with this, but she also didn’t feel like letting Sully and Jesse, the second in command, try to fight these girls. So with a groan she walked toward the warriors to meet them as they walked into Orphans territory, trying to catch them before Sully.

The Warriors just wanted to get home. The night had turned to shit when someone had shot Cyrus, seemingly blaming them for it. They were already tired from the Turnbull AC’s and the damn track fire. As second in command, Mercy had taken the lead, even after Ajax had objected and almost left them. Mercy knew it was just because Ajax was afraid to have actually lost Cleon, but Mercy and Ajax understood each other and worked well together. Maybe they didn’t always make the most logical or safe choice, but they agreed on most things, so Ajax stuck around. 

They walked for a few minutes before Rembrandt and Fox spoke one after the other. “Scowling faces on the rooftops…” “I count thirty, maybe forty”. Mercy cursed herself for forgetting the Orphans' territory.   

“It’s just the Orphan, we can take this wimps no problem.” Said Ajax with a voice indicating clearly that she would be happy to fight them. 

Mercy spotted a woman approaching them, not even trying to hide herself. She looked strong and very irritated to see them. “Let’s see if we can find another way out of this one, but kicking their ass is definitely plan B”, Mercy declared, making her way to stand face to face with the Orphan woman. 

Swan watched as one of the girl separated herself from the group to block her path, probably their leader for that night. Swan had seen Cleon a long time ago and this girl was definitely not Cleon. 

The girl stared at Swan with a big fake smile before exclaiming very sarcastically “So nice of you to send us a welcome committee! But really we won’t be here long so you can go back where you come from”. Swan already hated her.

She gritted her teeth trying to stay calm and composed “You shouldn’t be here”. The rest of the girl crew were now just behind her, half of them keeping their eyes on the Orphans surrounding them, the other half looking at Swan and Mercy discussion. 

"Well we are here. So what are you gonna do about it, pretty face?" Mercy took a step forward, bringing her close to Swan.

Swan scoffed unamused and unmoving "Ask you to leave before things go to shit".

 "Think you can beat us with your little crew?" Mercy said has she leaned even more into Swan's personal space

Swan held her stare, challenging "I think we outnumber you by a lot so you should just go back where you came from before we decide to make you."

"Yo that's what we're trying to do!" A strong looking woman, probably Ajax though Swan, interjected. 

"Well, find another way. No way I’m letting a gang in colors pass through our territory." Swan says deadpan, eyes fixated on Mercy. 

From behind Swan, two scrawny looking men approached the group. They look amused and way too full of themselves. 

“What is this, a late-night cosmetology class?” Called out the tallest of the two, Sully. Jesse, the guy that was following him, laughed as if Sully was the funniest man alive. “You must be lost! Can I see your hall pass?” The leader continued before laughing at his own dumb jokes. 

Swan sighed heavily. She turned to glare at him. “Sully, I’m handling it. They were leaving, just like you.” 

The Warrior with a cowboy hat spoke up “Yea, we were only passing through on our way downtown.”

Swan passed a hand in her hair, clearly done with the whole situation. She looked at the Warriors over her shoulder. “I wasn’t letting you go through, y’a know.”

Mercy flashed her a flirtatious smile and batted her eyes “Even if we say please?”. Swan got taken by surprise and didn’t respond right away. Sully jumped on the occasion to take control.

“Swan’s not the boss here, I am.” He puffed his chest, trying to look more imposing. “I can vouch for your safe release, if you come in peace.”

“We do.” Quickly said Fox and Cowgirl in a seductive tone, while Mercy was still examining Swan, clearly amused by the whole thing. 

“Then it’s settled”. Sully said proud of himself. 

Swan was becoming more and more mad with every single thing her “leader” was saying. “What the fuck Sully? You really just gonna let them go cause they said they’re gonna be peaceful? What if they have weapons and try to take our turf?”

Mercy, who was now side by side with Swan, interrupted the conversation “We promise we don’t have anything on us. We’re coming from that meeting in the boogie down, no gun aloud.” Swan studied Mercy trying to see if she was lying. She knew no weapon was aloud at that meeting and the Warriors didn’t look like the kind to bring some anyway.

“What meeting?”, asked Sully confused. 

Swan swiftly answered him, giving Mercy a death glare “You know. The meeting Cyrus demanded. The one we definitely didn’t want or need to go to cause we’re better than the others”. Swan knew it was bullshit. The truce could have helped them immensely, but she had to make Sully think it was his idea not to go and make him forget that they simply didn’t get an invitation.

“Oh the dumb meeting we lost the invitation too. Of course!” exclaimed Sully, sure of himself. “Well in that case you can go. Don’t forget to tell everyone how the Orphans got pity on you and let you pass!” This dumbass is happy about it, though Swan. She groaned but said nothing more as the Warriors started making their way through the Orphans turf. 

Sully and Jesse were talking between them while Swan stayed a bit farther pondering on why she was staying with these idiots. As the warriors were marching forth, Mercy stopped and looked behind her. She gave Swan an inviting smile “You look way too good to be with these bitches. Wanna come with us?” 

The Warriors were walking away, not waiting for them as Swan had to make a decision that could change her life. She took a deep breath and looked at the Orphans proud of themselves for doing nothing. Maybe she could find something better for the youngest member and bring them back with her in the future. Maybe she could finally do something other than survive. Swan started walking in the direction of the Warriors not knowing how the rest of the night was gonna go. Mercy smiled, truly happy for the first time that night.