Tommy Merlyn

Get up and fight back. Thomas Merlyn (1985-2013; 2015...) Cambion (n.) In mythology, a cambion is the offspring of a human and an incubus or succubus. The human child of a demon.

[thirdofhisname]

    Rick Flag The Third played his acoustic guitar out on the beach, one of his few freedoms to relax. “ I’m the penthouse pauper; I got nothin’ to my name. I’m the penthouse pauper; baby, I got nothing to my name. I can be most anything, 'Cause when you got nothin’ it’s all the same.” 

[cambionmerlyn]

Tommy didn’t have much on him these days, but he heard the guy singing and felt nostalgic somehow. He listened to the lyrics and almost started laughing. It was enough to draw him closer, hands in his pockets. One hand dug deeper after a moment, and he took out a dollar and tossed it down at what appeared to be something the man had set on the sand so it wouldn’t blow away.

[scmarias]

          it was all over the news. three dead - slaughtered - and for some reason it felt far too familiar to sam. normally news like this would tug at the single mother’s heartstrings yet, this time, they hardened. eyes turned cold and the corner of her lips turned up to form a subtle smirk. it was only when someone spoke next to her that she snapped out of what seemed like a daze, the harshness of her expression melting into that of confusion. “— what? what happened?”

[cambionmerlyn]

Tommy’s hands were shaking when he came up to a woman in a public place and started to ask her where that was, who those people were. Everyone seemed more local that he was. Then, he realized that he might be mistaken. “I... I don’t know. It’s--” He closed his eyes, trying not to see the image that, while the news was reasonably discreet about it, burned its way into his brain with implication. With blood everywhere, and he remembered flashes of something he wanted to forget.

[cambionmerlyn]

// I have a fair bit of catching up to do on Slade (@thesladewilson). I’m back from a hiatus, but I’m also back to work after break so trying to pace myself. If you want to plot with Tommy, I’d love to do something (and Slade after I’m caught up a bit more)!

[cambionmerlyn]

blackcanarysongbird:

“Uh, my- my place’s not so far from here” she offered, it was the only place she could think of to go where they wouldn’t be interrupted or risk being overheard. She had so many questions to ask him but she held back, part because they were in public and part because she didn’t want to overwhelm him, her questions could wait. Right now she was just enjoying being there with him, she’d missed him so much it was almost unbearable and now he was here, with her, alive.

“Are you sure?” Tommy asked, trying to remember how to be polite. He looked up at the big courthouse beyond them and back at her. “I could... wait. I’ve got nowhere to be. I just...” He tried to string something coherent together. “I’ll go anywhere you want,” he repeated, taking another small step toward her.

[cambionmerlyn]

blackcanarysongbird:

“You know, no one calls me that” Dinah replied turning to look at him “and right now it’s Black Canary” she said glancing around to make sure the building hadn’t been affected by the explosions, fortunately it hadn’t. “Do you trust me?” She asked, right now this was the only safe place she could think of that he could stay till things calmed down.

“I want to, L--” That was going to take some getting used to. “Black Canary,” he said, obediently. He tried not to make it sound like it was as ridiculous as part of him found it. After all, she wasn’t the only one with a different name she used sometimes. He just didn’t put on a costume and do this.

“I want to,” he said. “But forgive me if I’m a little bit gun-shy after what happened the last time someone I cared about started wearing weird clothes and killing criminals.” He could only assume.

[cambionmerlyn]

blackcanarysongbird:

Dinah didn’t reply to that, being the Black Canary had never been safe but she still did it anyway, she put on the mask, fishnets and leather jacket as often as she could. “C’mon, I know a place we can go” she said letting him steady himself on her while she led them towards the DA’s office.

Tommy realized, when he saw some signs that he could read and half-recognized from his first days knowing she was here, where she must be taking him. At least, he knew he was in the ballpark. He hissed at her when he managed to speak.

“Laurel -- I mean... I mean--whatever I’m supposed to call you right now,” he said, trying not to splutter as he tried to keep his voice down, “are you crazy? This is...” Going to make everything crash down for you, even if this storm settles. He didn’t know why he wanted to protect this, but he knew why he wanted to protect her.

[cambionmerlyn]

blackcanarysongbird:

When she felt his hand around her arm and felt his skin under her fingers was the first time since she saw him that she was convinced he was here, real and alive. She was glad he didn’t pull away when she touched him, she didn’t know how the resurrection had affected him and she didn’t want to do anything that made him run away. 

“Right, yeah, of course” Dinah nodded, it definitely wasn’t a conversation to have in public. “Do you want to…” the blonde paused not really sure what to say, she wanted to talk, she had so many questions but she knew this wasn’t the place to have that conversation.

“I don’t really have a place for us to go to,” Tommy said, apologetically dry. He was nostalgic for a time that he didn’t have any right to be nostalgic for. It was too far gone and too hidden beneath a layer of pain and death that didn’t even belong to him. He smirked, weakly, before it fell away. He glanced around, breathing in fresh air and trying to center himself. “Anywhere...” he said softly, then he spoke more decisively as he tried meeting her eyes again. “I’ll go anywhere you want.”

It was a blanket promise he felt like he would keep to her anywhere, anytime. He had done so, so many things the wrong way. Been selfish and stubborn and stupid and then... dead. Nothing but dead, for a while. He didn’t intend on wasting time, this time, no matter where it got him.

[cambionmerlyn]

ofgumption:

“It isnot charity. You did something nice for me and I just want to return thefavor.” She smiled at him, hoping he would soon see there were no illintentions behind her actions. Perhaps a little bit selfish, for she wanted tohave company instead of being alone. “I’m Iris. And you?” She found atable and led him towards it, waving hello at one of the waitresses she knew whenshe worked there.

Tommy didn’t know whether to let her be close enough to guide him anywhere. In crowds of people, with strangers, it almost felt entirely normal to brush past and keep breathing through it even when he felt like everything smelled faintly of rust now -- even people. Especially people. He swallowed down the sense of revulsion that came with responding to kindness and not knowing what to do with himself in response. Before -- a long time before -- he had been selfish in response to kindness, but he had never been completely beyond reaction to it.

He was grateful when he reached the table. He grasped a chair by its frame and pulled it out. At the last possible second, he remembered his manners, taught to him by the man he still couldn’t shake being his father. He stepped aside and nodded for Iris to sit down. Then he slid out another chair for himself and gratefully took a seat.

“I’m Tommy,” he said simply, quickly.

[cambionmerlyn]

blackcanarysongbird:

Dinah frowned as he tried to speak but seemed like he couldn’t find the words, she’d been worried about him ever since she found out he was back from the dead, and with everything going on she was even more worried. “How about we get you somewhere safe?” She suggested, she didn’t want him out here or anywhere near what was happening, she’d already lost him once she never wanted to go through that again. The Black Canary looked around the place, it didn’t seem like there was any safe buildings around, but her office hadn’t been affected for once so they could go there until things calmed down.

“You’re sure this is safe?” Tommy said, nodding toward her form and the clothing she now wore -- like a costume and like armor. Then he changed his mind and nodded, quickly, for her sake as much as he could think for it to be. “Yes. Yes, let’s... get out of here.” He reached up, knowing he would need to at least steady himself with her help. The world was shaking -- again.

[blackcanarysongbird]

@cambionmerlyn 

Dinah had been trying to help people as best she could, getting them out of burning buildings before they collapsed. She would definitely need new fishnets after this was over, the ones she was wearing had been burned quite a few holes in, but she didn’t have any severe injuries.

She’d just gotten out of another building after getting people out when she saw him, Tommy, she still couldn’t believe he was really there, alive. But he was, and even though she was dressed in her Black Canary gear she had to make sure he was okay. “Tommy” she called out to him as she made her way over to him “are you okay?”

[cambionmerlyn]

Tommy had just barely managed to find his way out of one terrifying place and down into the equally terrifying street. There was chaos and violence everywhere. He recognized the scent of blood in the air now, and it hammered in his temples. Then, he looked up and saw her. Maybe she was the only thing on this Earth that could distract him from that awful, awful sense that seemed like an extra one tacked on to the original five.

“Am I--” he started to dumbly repeat her question for her. He looked her up and down. “What are you--?” he asked. Then, a lot of things suddenly started to flood back for him. Things he had known, before he had died, and things he hadn’t. “You’re...” he tried to articulate it. He wasn’t okay, exactly. There were bits of glass on his clothes and probably a few that had grazed his skin, too, but he had questions more than anything. At least it was something to focus on, rather than the blood and imminent death around him.

[cambionmerlyn]

ofgumption:

She staredat him for a moment, not quite sure why he was showing his hands as if she wasafraid of him and he wanted to prove her wrong. But she appreciated the gestureall the same and smiled again, leading him to Jitters. “What a coincide!Me neither.” Iris could make it home and be alone, or she could go withhim to Jitters. The choice was very simple. “Wait until you try theblueberry muffin. There is nothing better in this word.” She beamed at himand pushed the door open, looking around for a table.

“You... really don’t owe me that much, but thank you,” Tommy said. He was surprised at how well his manners came back. He almost didn’t believe himself. He studied her while she looked for a table, confusing himself alone. He finally remembered another part of it. “Here I am accepting charity from you, and I didn’t even ask your name.”

[cambionmerlyn]

blackcanarysongbird:

“Drunk? I don’t…” Dinah was confused to say the least, didn’t he know he’d died, that he shouldn’t even be standing here? Though she supposed if he’d come back to life the way she suspected he’d be a little disoriented. “It’s me” she confirmed, even if she wasn’t entirely convinced it was really him, maybe it was a doppelganger? No it couldn’t be, she at least hoped no one would be cruel enough to play a trick like that on her. When he moved closer Dinah closed the distance between them. Hesitantly she reached out to place her hand against his cheek, she paused when it was a few inches away from his skin, afraid that once she touched him he’d disappear, she wasn’t sure if she could handle loosing him again. Gently placing her hand against his cheek she brought the other one up to cover her mouth, biting back a sob that was threatening to escape, because he was really there with her. Her eyes burning with unshed tears, Tommy was alive and she still couldn’t completely wrap her mind around it. “How are you a-alive?”

Tommy reached up when Laurel tried to touch him. He hesitated too, but when she reached his face with her palm, he caught her forearm in turn. His fingers loosely draped around it so he let his grip hang from it but without the full force of his weight. He squeezed against her sleeve and felt that she was real, and for a moment, whatever the hell he had been through, there was a peace at the end of it. A fragile, fragile peace that broke a little when he closed his eyes and reluctantly opened them again.

“Probably not a conversation to have in public,” he explained simply. He breathed in and out steadily and stayed very still. This was the first time someone had touched him since he had been back, except in the most incidental of ways. He felt like it might turn him inside out, but he would have it no other way.

[cambionmerlyn]

The world was shaking again. There were fires and there were crashes and screams and all the other signs that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. Again, he was alone and couldn’t get to anyone he cared about. Only this time, it was in a strange place where he didn’t know which way to turn. He could only repeat what had killed him if he could get up, if he could move, and that was proving difficult.

The sounds rang and echoed in his ears, and he was in pain. Worse than being in pain, though, was what came with it. He was trembling. He didn’t trust himself. He didn’t trust his hands, his feet, or what he would do with them if he could stop their trembling. So many people were dead. There was so much destruction everywhere. So much violence. So much...

For a moment, he tried to just make himself smaller. He made a sound of anguish, trying to channel the way his blood burned to get out there -- to help, but he didn’t know which cause he wanted to help. He didn’t know if he wanted to go and find someone to try and save or if he wanted to go and help someone burn.

[cambionmerlyn]

ofgumption:

Her coffeewas getting cold and it didn’t seem the weather would get any better. And ifshe had to be honest, he seemed like he could use a nice cup of hot chocolate.Perhaps accepting a stranger’s invitation was not the wisest, considering theworld was not exactly safe. Yet she felt like she wanted to do something forthe kind man who had helped her. Some lost keys might not seem like a life changingissue, but to her it had meant a lot.

“Ofcourse I’m sure! It’s getting cold out here and I believe there is nothing ahot cuppa can’t fix.” And having company was always nice. “The coffeeshop is right here on the corner. It will take half an hour or so, and then youwill be free to continue your way. I insist.”

Tommy lifted his hands just above the level of his waist, weakly. He was showing that they were empty, that there was nothing he could even try to enact violence with. He still remembered what it felt like -- with his bare hands -- almost every day, almost every spare thought he had around strangers, but he didn’t want to.

“Don’t have anywhere to be,” he said quietly. Then he took a step to follow her lead.

[cambionmerlyn]

blackcanarysongbird:

When she heard her middle name, spoken by an oddly familiar voice she couldn’t quite place, she turned around to say no one called her that, except very few people. Though when she turned around and saw who it was she couldn’t manage to get the words, any words out, she just stared at him for a few seconds not really sure what to do or say, or if this was even real because Tommy Merlyn was standing right there and he was dead, wasn’t he? 

“T-Tommy?” Dinah finally managed to get after probably staring at him way to long. She took a careful step towards him, afraid that this was just in her mind, she hadn’t slept in almost two days and had most likely had way too much coffee and she was terrified that this was just her mind playing tricks on her. If she thought about it she really shouldn’t be too surprised, she’d seen people come back from the dead before, including her own sister, but it seemed like everyone came back except him. 

“H-” she cut herself off, too scared to ask how or get her hopes up that this was anything other than a trick her mind was playing on her, or that someone was playing some sort of sick game. His death, even years after was still something that haunted her, and she was terrified that if she stepped closer and reached out to touch him he’d disappear, she couldn’t deal with that, not again. “How?” She asked after a few seconds, her voice breaking slightly.

“... I swear to God, or whatever you want, I’m not drunk,” Tommy said. He looked at her, but then he seemed to be questioning what he had just said himself. “I didn’t... do anything that would make me hallucinate this, did I?” he asked. “You’re really... who I... who I know you are,” he said, because there was no way he could just think he saw her. Dinah Laurel Lance was a name that he would remember into eternity, whatever the hell that looked like now. He moved forward, the worn soles of his shoes scuffing against the pavement between them as he hesitated but only a little.

[cambionmerlyn]

ofgumption:

Thefamiliar weight brought a sigh to her lips. She reminded herself to be morecareful and pay more attention to her surroundings, yet she could not help but enjoythe little things in life. It amazed her how, despite everything they had gonethrough, she could still find pleasure in those things most people took forgranted.

“Wait,”she said as she moved to stop him, only to realize he hadn’t turned to leave.“Please allow me to buy you a cup of coffee, or hot chocolate? It theleast I can do.” Iris still believed there was good in the world, and thatpeople more often than not surprised her with random acts of kindness, and shewanted him to see how much she appreciated it. After all, he had saved her notonly from the annoyance of having to get a another set of keys, but perhapseven the teasing she would get for losing her keys again.

Tommy planted his heels a little more firmly at the request. He kept working his hands in his pockets. His brow furrowed and he kept watching the woman in front of him. He considered the offer.

“Cho-Chocolate?” he asked, like it was some foreign, interesting concept. He chuckled softly at his own awe. He was broke, alone, actually kind of homeless and lost and barely even human even after months and months and months. Somehow, hot chocolate seemed like the kindest promise of another day without hunger he had known in a while. “Uh... if you’re... sure, I--”

He didn’t finish whatever he had been going to say.

[cambionmerlyn]

Central City was a simple enough place. So far, Tommy had managed to eek out an existence with next to nothing and with almost no theft. The petty theft of basic sustenance kind of food reminded him of watching the Disney movie Aladdin as a kid. One jump ahead, right? He felt jumpy and tired, and he looked around and he was awake and it was almost 11 a.m. Normal, responsible people were awake at this time of day.

So, Tommy shrugged on a jacket and half-put-together started to go toward the city center where he had seen all the more traditional, important-looking buildings. It had never occurred to him to do this before, but with sudden, strange clarity he started rehearsing the slightly altered version of his life story that he had perfected for the sole reason of not letting him find him and do anything else without asking first.

He was halfway up and outdoor, stone staircase. He saw the beveled and painted glass that made up the signs of doors somewhere beyond, labeling particular offices and departments. Then, he heard a happy, light sound on the air that he would have known anywhere, in heaven or hell or life or death. It shot down his spine. He turned around, sightless and desperate, until he saw her.

He took a few steps back down toward the sidewalk.

“L-” he tried but the sound was caught. “... Laurel?” he managed. “Laurel,” he said, a little louder.

@blackcanarysongbird || Closed