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Non-Contractual Agreement

VAV

V

Well, this is awkward.

Yang had caught him in a lecture, sitting down next to him with barely a word and nothing to tell him just how screwed he was because of this. Even if he couldn't help stealing glances at her as she listened to the lecture. He knew from idle chatter with her and the other fencers, especially snowflake, her grades weren't the best. Whatever the reason, it wasn't because of her ability to focus.

He knew this was supposed to be a moment for some crass joke. There were a couple he could use if he really felt like it. Instead he just kept his eyes on her.

Even here, she seemed a hundred percent committed to a lecture about globalization in labor forces. A topic he knew had nothing to do with her major. Her eyes were nonetheless focused on the board so hard it seemed to keep her leaned forward in her chair. That didn't nothing to stop her from tilting back the chair, balancing against the table with her knees in a way she made look so natural he was annoyed he couldn't describe it better. Especially compared to his own kicked back lecture position, Yang seemed at home here in a classroom. So much so, her mouth hung open in an absent minded concentration. The same expression she used when enraptured by a fight or hearing one of Blake's stories. One he absolutely loved.

It also did nothing to help his concentration. He hadn't been able to focus on the lecture since she first snuck in. Whispering if they could talk afterwards, with her face too comfortably close to his without comfort. All he did was nod and try not to stare at plump lips he would never admit to missing while over break.

As books closed around him, Mercury shut his old laptop and waited for Yang to finish her socializing. Because of course she knew three different member of the class, leaving him to stand there in her shadow and try as always to keep his heart rate slow. "Can we still talk?" She asked, all he did was give her a silent 'after you' gesture.

None of his own concerns alleviated in the slightest as she seemed to lead him away from other people. Isolating them at first around the corner of the building and then second guessing herself, brought them around to the little garden out on the side. The ice covered plants seemed like an early fitting place for all this. The fact that it also would make a good spot for a mugging or an assassination was not lost on him.

"Do you want to sit down?" Yang asked.

"No." He wanted to stay standing in case he needed to make a break for it.

"So, um… you said you knew my uncle. Want to talk about that?" Yang had her arms folded against her chest. Rubbing her hands against her arms as if she ever even noticed the cold as if she wasn't known as a living space heater by all of her numerous friends.

"No."

"That's fine really…"

"Constable Branwen used to patrol the village where I grew up. I don't know what kind of stories he told you…"

"He didn't…"

"…But all IO know is that as a kid he and his partner always seemed to show when my life was proving itself worse than usual. First time I broke my wrist, they showed up to see me at surgery. Dad forgets to buy food with his beer and there they are. Incident at school where a teacher tries to blame for a drug spree, and they turn up. Hell, even the day I lost… yeah, D.S. Branwen's first case. Lucky us. Felt like the guy was some Cŵn Annwn waiting to see me dead in the back of an ambulance. So whatever he had to say, I don't really want to hear it."

Yang was silent, rarely a good sign at any time. At least this time he had an idea why. Or thought he did at any rate. "…You knew my mum."

"Huh?"

"His partner, Rose."

There was a certain vulnerability there for both of them. Both of them were comfortable enough taking risks when it came to pain and physical harm. Their missing limbs and scars stood testament to that; but his rant and her quiet response was an opening in guards they had spent years drilling. The kind neither were ready to layer more scars onto. All they needed was the first twitch and things could change, better or worse, only if they were willing to open the guard. Just a little thing, as simple as matching stares.

Instead they simply stood there, letting whatever stretched between them balance on traded looks and postures tensed against old heartbreaks.

"Ah…"

"Yeah…"

Mercury was smart enough not to make any of the follow-up comments that popped into his head. 'Your mom was super hot' and 'you look nothing like her' alone were bad enough. Taken together, she'd probably rip his head off. Others invaded his mind like that nagging thought he had been putting off about the way her sister reminded him of some old memories. The way she always seemed so protective of her friends and family, even when acknowledging the fact that her little sister was more of the shooting star. Even the nagging news article he always had pretended to not have seen about a local constables posthumous promotion to inspector. He did have to say something though, Yang mind was already burying itself in the past. Too much silence and she would bolt. "She was… nice."

"Yeah, yeah she was." A weight lifted a little off her shoulder as a silent agreement passed between them to leave Rose's story untouched for now. "Look…"

"What?"

"I think… I thought a lot about this over break, and I think we should put a hold on any of our other rendezvous."

"Why?"

"Last semester of college, I need to focus on school and projects. I don't want to stop being friends, I just can't let that be distracting me. You understand?"

He did, really. College sucked for people like them. Not because of atmosphere or difficulty, those were different issues. For them it was more a matter of intent. Because the cause was so far from the effect, it never really felt like their were ever moving towards their goals, never felt like they were really working.

Relationships, of any sort, were by nature a major influence of either positive or negative nature. With academics, from what he had seen in others, friends were usually a minus. Making it as physical as they had was almost certainly a minus unless both parties were one of those hopeless romantics who believed they could it all they way, or if they kept an emotional distance.

Yang burned too hot for that. He should have known that the first night they fought and let the fighting turn into something more intimate. So yeah, he did understand her. What he didn't understand was the tenseness in his abdomen or maybe the serum. Whatever it was that made it so hard for him to breath as he forced out the words. "Yeah, of course."

She seemed a little surprised by how easy it was all ending. A simple contract ceased due to changes in terms accepted by all involved parties. Not that he could blame her. Words were simple, but this wasn't. "…Cool, yeah."

He didn't say anything in reply. His eyes focusing everywhere but her. It didn't help the force trying to crack his ribs.

"So…"

Mercury turned his shoulders, suggesting for both their sakes that they could part now on equal terms. If only Yang was willing to take an easy out for once in her life.

"Are you heading to dinner after this? We could walk together." Her voice had more of that hesitation that she had started this with. Mercury didn't like it. The Yang he knew was confident, had strength in everything she did.

Well, not always.

You know what? "Sure."

This was definitely one more fuck it plan.

VAV

V

First thing first, a Cŵn Annwn is a Welsh mythical beast also known as a Black Dog. For us Harry Potter fans, they can also be known as a Grim. I figured the Welsh name was more precise, and having a more Welsh vocabulary seemed like a way to highlight Mercury and Yang's country roots. Also, yeah Mercury, Yang's the only one with emotional distance. We totally believe you.

This chapter took ages due to a number of reasons. 70 hour work weeks, lack of internet, signing up for an MBA program that's starting next Monday, and the annoying parts where the story hit a little too close to home. Which is also why I'm content with this being another short chapter. The next chapter already shaping up to make up for that error while also benefiting from being less damned depressing.

Hope you all enjoy, and please comment. I need to get back into writing-shape after all.