It had been awhile since her run in with the black and white male who helped her rename herself, and since the feast Mercy realized that she should probably tell Valentine. She was so proud of herself for taking that huge step, and very thankful for Hare for helping her out with all of it. So the dame strolled through the Knolls, a smirk on her face as her elongated tail swished behind her. This same time last year she had called Valentine to her side to show off her new scars, and things had gotten a little more... intimate with them. She bit her lip as her toes tingled, she was in heat now. But that wasn't why she was calling him here. Right? Okay maybe there was a little part of her that was hoping for action, but then again when wasn't she? Carefully picking a place to sit among the hills, Mercy curled her long tail around herself and tipped her head back, purple eyes closing as she let out a summoning howl for Valentine. Excitement made her blood boil, black marked face pulling down to sit level once her song was done. She just wanted to tell him about her new name, finally dropping Destruction from her life. If he wanted a little more, well then... she certainly wasn't going to argue with him. But Mercy put on her metaphorical big girl pants, she wasn't going to the be first to suggest anything to the tall blue man. Just leave it at a simple conversation. Nodding to herself she repeated that phrase in her head, although she couldn't help but think of last time. No Mercy, bad! Focus! Right. Deep breaths, count to ten, all that bullshit. She was trying to be a good girl, for once.

Mercy's howl filled him with dread. He knew exactly what time of year it was and for that reason he'd been careful to avoid being alone with this particular packmate. The first whiff of heat scent he'd picked up from Mercy this year had immediately brought to mind their conversation about her possible sterility. She'd done what she'd done knowing - expecting - to get pregnant and that didn't sit well with him. In a way he felt used. What if she had gotten pregnant? What would she have done then? Valentine adored his kids and didn't regret them, but he'd also never planned them. His love for them aside, if he stopped to think about the consequences of what might happen during their conception he might have fewer kids today. He couldn't claim to be clueless - obviously he knew where babies came from - but he was more of in-the-heat-of-the-moment kind of guy. There were a few reasons he was reluctant for a repeat of their last winter conversation, but the most glaring was his awareness of the possibilities of such a union. He couldn't simply be made unaware again.

After steeling himself Valentine set out for Mercy. He had absolutely no intention of sleeping with her; he refused to be a test subject in her search for answers. While he doubted she would call him to her for the sole purpose of jumping his bones, he mentally prepared himself for such a confrontation should it be the case. He wasn't sure how well she would take rejection - or if she'd accept it at all - and that concerned him. If he were a weaker-willed, less resolute man he might have broken down and brought Rhys along as a pint-sized boner killer to crush the possibility before it had a chance to even be considered.

As Mercy came into sight Valentine easily adopted and presented a warm front. His lips lifted in a smile and his eyebrows rose in a silent statement. Well? Here I am. He was very fond of Mercy and his reluctance to pursue her didn't diminish that any. His expression turned teasing. "Let me guess," he began, "you fought a bear. Or no, a pride of lions, maybe?"

Purple gaze had been watching the horizon, searching for the king to appear. It was hard to miss his massive form as he glided into few, and she flashed him an easy smile at the sight of him. It had been awhile since they had been alone, and she swallowed hard to try and forget what that last meeting had brought. The pale woman was thankful when Valentine spoke first, his brow having rose at his approach. His teasing words made her laugh, her tail thumping on the earth where she stayed seated. "I don't know if I would call the grey male I fought a bear." she replied with ease, making sure to stay in her seat. It was obvious that Mercy was restraining herself, harder with the hormones that raged within her form. She shifted for a moment, before adopting her smile once more. "But no, no wild animals this time. A few new scars, but nothing worth showing." She said with a shrug. Mercy hummed softly while she tried to keep her thoughts collected, paws shuffling in the snow under her. "But I met a brute while out training, and we got on the topic of names and family. I know that you're no stranger to my dislike for my family name, I've been honest with you from the get go. I had never thought of changing my last name, to be honest I never even thought that it was possible to just up and change it." she rambled on, another shrug lifting her shoulders. "But he suggested changing it if I didn't like it. So I stand, well sit, before you, no longer Mercy Destruction." A huge smile crossed her black lips, pride making her chest puff out as her ears stood fully erect. "I am now Mercy Guerrero."

Valentine slowly sank back onto his haunches as Mercy's laugh rang out. She then responded with a comment about who she'd fought in place of a bear. For a brief moment it looked like Mercy was struggling with something, but whatever it was she quickly tamed. She grinned at him before declaring that she had no interesting scars worth showcasing this time. Mercy went on tell him about an encounter she'd while out training. ...I know that you're no stranger to my dislike for my family name... He nodded here. The brute shared her general dislike of Destructions.

So I stand, well sit, before you, no longer Mercy Destruction." Valentine's eyebrows rose at this statement. He knew the punchline and he didn't have to wait long for it. "I am now Mercy Guerrero." Valentine grinned approvingly. "That's fantastic, Mercy! I'm glad you're making a clean break of it." At one point he'd made a similar decision and discarded a heritage he had no interest in living under. Curiously he asked, "How'd you come up with it? Does it mean anything?" He'd never understood how exactly such a mousy family had been given the Destruction moniker. While Mercy herself was far from mousy, the name she'd had and the heritage that came with it didn't really suit her. If she'd put as much thought into her name as he suspected then surely she'd come up with something befitting.

Mercy flashed a huge smile at Valentine, her tail beating on the frozen ground in quick succession. She didn't know why she hadn't done so earlier, why she had been carrying on the burden of her family name for so long. It had been so simple, so easy to make the decision when Hare had suggested it. To think, what was really in a name? Some held pride in it, happily tacking it on to their first name with pride. But her... she had ignored it, pushed it away without thought of just... leaving it behind. Snapped out of her thoughts by Valentine's words, she curled her elongated tail around her and thought back to the day with a smile. "I was out training, running up the side of a mountain. When I made it to the top I met a man there by the name of Hárekr. When I introduced myself as just Mercy, he asked if I had a last name that came with it. I told him about my dislike for it and how I didn't care for my family, and he suggested picking a new surname. I had... never really thought of it like that. That I could just simply change it like that." she said with a small shrug, her thoughtful gaze studying Valentine's face. "So he helped me come up with a few, naming some suggestions. I went with Guerrero. It means warrior in Spanish." Mercy's smile only grew, her bodice wiggling side to side slightly. The pale dame out a soft hum, unable to shake her happy feeling. "I just wanted to let you know, I had no idea how much happier this would make me. In something as simple as a name, its hard to put a reason to why it can hold so much pride and shame. I mean, its just a name... right?" She mused, not knowing that Valentine had had a similar experience.

A biting blast of winter wind rolled against him and caused the King to shiver lightly. With a cat-like flick of his tail Valentine draped the fluffy appendage across the tops of his paws. He was looking forward to the warmer months. This constantly freezing his butt off thing was for the birds.

A small smile graced his lips as Mercy told him her story and the meaning of her name, the latter of which caused the corners of his mouth to rise higher. "The meaning is very fitting," he said with a warm chuckle. It certainly suited her.

"It's just a name, right?" Valentine shrugged thoughtfully. "That depends on the person, I suppose, and the shame." He flicked his tail again, forgetting, only for a second, that it was where it was for a reason. "When I created Imperium I took a new name. My mother didn't have one and my father's..." He still held firmly to the belief that his father was as useless as tits on a boar. "I didn't want to share the same name as that man." He was using the word "man" very loosely. "I think...I understand where you're coming from and I'm very happy for you, Mercy."

Mercy's tail thumped on the ground as he mentioned that it was a fitting name, the large smile staying on her face. When he began to explain a bit about himself, her ears perked up to catch his every word. Oh, they had more in common than she realized. Her head tilted slightly to the side, purple eyes growing wide ever so slightly. "I had no idea, that's actually... kind of cool," she mused softly. She stood up then, shaking her fur out. She blinked at Valentine thoughtfully, elongated tail swishing behind her. "That's all I had called you here for today, unless there is something else you wanted to discuss?" she asked. There would be no way that she would just walk away from him, not without being dismissed. Plus, there was no way to know if he had something more in store for this discussion.

"That's all I had called you here for today, unless there is something else you wanted to discuss?" He frowned thoughtfully. "Hmmm," he mused. Was there anything else to discuss? He couldn't think of anything off the top of his head. She'd called him here and not the other way around so he hadn't exactly prepared things to say. Valentine supposed he could ask her how her brother was doing and if he was well since he'd been so scarce lately, but he could just as easily hunt Revenge down and see for himself how he was doing. There was quiet and then there was too quiet, and Revenge was definitely the latter. "No," he finally said. "I can't think of anything that needs discussing. I really am happy for you, Mercy."

She nodded her head, that grin never leaving her maw. She was so pleased that Valentine liked this idea, and that she had gained a bit more information about her Alpha. She liked feeling a little bit closer to him, she had a lot of respect for him. Feeling that much closer to him also made her feel pretty special, and a flush of heat rushed to her cheeks as she thought of the one thing that had really made them... closer. Physically. Shaking her head, she hopped to her paws and dipped her head at Valen. "Right'o Boss, I'll see you later then!" she barked, taking a few steps back. With one last look, she turned around and headed off, her long tail wagging as she practically danced away. -exit-