Man, this chapter was a bear to write. From a source material standpoint there are 12 fics on the RWBY side of things that feature Yang and Mercury as featured characters (including this one!) Thermometer fans, I gave it my best shot.
Disclaimer: Rooster Teeth owns RWBY and while I haven't exactly gotten into the events involving Volume 3, rest assured that it's coming, Bálor Moonlight belongs to me (for better or worse)
The Vytal Festival was pressing closer with each passing day with the students and staff of Beacon Academy gearing up with last minute preparations, be in battle formations, security, or even wardrobe. But for Yang, it was a simple issue of waiting for the fighting to start.
"Less than a week to go and I'm going nuts here!" The blonde brawler was indeed feeling very pent up as of late, even with her solo training in the amphitheater it still was no substitute for an actual fight. But with every other student either planning strategy with their fellow teammates, or planning the best way to maximize their day in between rounds for those who weren't competing, this left Yang in a very noticeable lurch as she looked around for someone to at least consider as her sparring partner. Her eyes instantly locked onto the silver-haired Mercury Black and felt herself give a small smile as he gave her a two-fingered salute in return, they had been flirting with one another for a bit of time now and Yang genuinely liked the guy.
Not that she would say it to his face of course.
"What is it with me and guys with silver-hair? First that idiot, now Mercury." She would furrow her brow in thought at the similarities between the two men in her life: both were obnoxious flirts, confident in their own fighting abilities, and generally kept to themselves unless being cajoled into doing something by an outside party.
"At least Merc knows where his bread's being buttered, unlike a certain someone." Yang would shake her head once more as thoughts of the wolf Faunus started to seep in before slamming her palm down on the dining hall table that Team RWBY was sitting at, startling the rest of the team out of whatever strategy they were discussing with one another.
"You okay sis?" Ruby would look over at the lilac eyed woman curiously, it wasn't uncommon for the brawler to go off when something was bothering her. "Are you not happy with the idea of who represents the team when we get past this first round?" The crimsonette would frown when she didn't get an immediate response, instead noticing as she followed her line of sight to see a certain wolf holding a bag from Schnee Subs while collecting a few oranges and something to drink.
"Of course she would react that way, those two still have yet to actually sit down and talk with one another." The red hood would wave to the young man exuberantly in an attempt to get his attention, only to be ignored as he left the dining hall to continue whatever it was he had been doing with his day.
"So it's decided then, in the event that we progress past the first round then Team RWBY will be represented in the Doubles Round by myself and Yang." Weiss would say this with an air of satisfaction as Ruby was brought back to reality by this statement, her mouth agape as even Blake seemed on board with the plan.
"Wha- wait a minute! Why can't I be the one to represent us in the Doubles Round, I've spent the same amount of time training and studying as you guys have!" Ruby would frown slightly, feeling left out of the running even as she had clearly proven herself a good leader. "I've been on the front lines with all of you throughout this whole thing with the White Fang so what's the deal?"
The other girls would turn to Blake to serve as their voice of reason, a position that the cat Faunus didn't exactly relish as it often meant being the one to deliver bad news to their leader.
"Ruby, it's not that we don't see you as a competent combatant, you'd do great in these matches that much I know from watching you over all this time." Blake would bite her lip as she saw Ruby's expression grow somewhat disheartened by the beginnings of her speech. "We just think that if you were to be separated from Crescent Rose during a one-on-one fight- which is totally possible by the way! We just don't think you're up to the challenge of a one on one fight…yet." The raven-haired Huntress would sigh and nod her head, seemingly satisfied with her answer. Ruby however would drum her fingertips along the table with a sour look on her face as she looked upon her Faunus team mate.
"That's..not really what you wanted to say, was it Blake?"
The yellow-eyed Faunus would pout as she shook her head plainly before laying her head down on the table. "Truth be told, we had the vote while you were distracted by trying to get the mutt's attention." Ruby would sigh and stare up on the ceiling before looking at her team once again.
"I want a recount."
Ruby's cry of anguish would be heard throughout the dining hall as the vote was repeated again with a similar outcome, causing Mercury and Emerald to wince as they sat at the far southern end of the dining hall.
"I hate this, I hate this so much." Emerald would rake her fingers through her hair in frustration as she looked back as the members of Team RWBY began to talk and converse along normal lines. "Can't we just execute the damn plan already and get out of here, there's so much I'd rather be doing with my life other than playing schoolgirl in this dithering hellhole." The tan-skinned woman would look around feeling nothing short of disdain as Mercury both mentally and physically face palmed at his partner's behavior, while letting his eyes wander over to the blonde bombshell of team with a smug smile as he gave a wink in her direction.
"I dunno, I think we've actually got it pretty good here: Decent food, easy to run through classes, a weekly chance to beat the living daylights out of someone-" Emerald would roll her eyes in disgust as she mumbled under her breath.
"A blonde bimbo you can screw whenever you feel like it."
Mercury would shake his head with a groan as she retaliated by sticking out her tongue mischievously. "Trust me when I say that we haven't crossed that bridge yet, and it's not for a lack of trying either!" He would say this quickly as the green-haired woman began to laugh at his dilemma, Mercury would growl as he recounted one instance of his time together with the brawler.
It started like any of their dates together the two of them would meet somewhere in the city of Vale, mostly because there was always a better chance at privacy outside of Beacon's walls due to the absence of their respective teammates and one rather nosy Glynda Goodwitch. That day's meeting place was outside of the multiplex as they had settled on attending the old school kung-fu movie madness marathon as a quick way to kill a few hours of their day. (And making fun of the God awful dubbing that came with them)
"Geez, I'm the first one here again..as usual." Mercury would mumble to himself as he paced outside the doors, stopping once he heard the familiar roar of a motorcycle coming his way as Yang's Bumblebee came to a complete stop in the nearby parking lot as the blonde-maned Huntress removed her helmet with a cocky smile in his direction.
"Sorry I'm late, traffic was a bitch and I couldn't exactly get out of class as fast as I wanted to thanks to Weiss reading Ruby the riot act over not paying attention in Port's class again." She would sigh in frustration as she stored the yellow helmet into a backend compartment and joining him at the entrance with a tired smile as she patted him on the shoulder with some gusto. "Ready to laugh your ass off?
Mercury would chuckle and wrap an arm around Yang's waist as they made their way inside the theater with a grin. "Just try and keep me from busting a gut."
The time that the two spent inside the theater seemed to flow as quickly as sands in an hourglass; the melee oriented pair laughing hysterically as whole sentences in the film's native language were boiled down to rarely clever one-liners or something completely unbefitting of the narrative itself, eventually those in attendance would become so annoyed at their outlandish behavior that they were told to leave the theater immediately and much to their chagrin (and their fellow moviegoers overwhelming joy) the pair of pugilists would eventually comply with.
"I can't believe how sensitive some people can be, I mean we were just going with the motions on how stupid some of these things are." Yang would stomp her foot indignantly as she recalled the raucous applause they received upon their exit, stopping once she realized that her silver-haired date had fallen out of step with her as they walked the promenade together. "Hey, you still with me here Mercury?" The lilac-eyed woman would turn back to see him looking down at his scroll inquisitively, raising a curious eyebrow at his absentmindedness she would grin as she snuck up behind him and swiped the scroll out of his hand. "Yoink!" The blonde would step back as he tried to recover his pilfered device. "Hmm, I wonder what dirty little secrets you're hiding in this-" Yang would frown upon seeing the words 'Wrestling', 'Live event', and 'Tickets Still Available" in the message that he had been reading. "No..Not him too!"
Mercury would be silent as he watched the Huntress shudder visibly as her grip on his scroll tightened to the point where her knuckles were bone white and her lilac eyes went red. "Hey..what's the matter? It's not like I was looking at nudie pics or anything, just some good old fashioned violence." Reaching out for his scroll would only cause her anger to heighten as she held it above her head, causing him to growl in frustration at her sudden switch in behavior. "Okay, what's your problem here Yang? Usually when girls find out that a guy likes Wrestling they usually just laugh it off and go along their merry way-" He would stop speaking as she tossed his scroll back to him with a noise of disgust before turning her back on him.
"If I wanted to date a wrestling nerd I'd still be puttering around with you-know-who, or have you already forgotten the giant fucking spectacles he freaking made every time there was a sparring session!" Yang would seethe as she remembered her former beau strutting down the aisle as loud rock music blared throughout the amphitheatre on more then one occasion. "I hated him a little more every time he did it, and the fact that my own little sister bought into the madness and made herself a little fan girl, Bullet Club t-shirt and all wasn't too great either" She would sigh in exasperation, finding a park bench to sit on as she tried to keep herself from completely blowing her stack as the usually cocky and assured Mercury just watched on as the Y in Team RWBY continued to vent some apparently pent-up frustrations toward the poor sap that came before him.
"But the worst part of it all was that at no point did Bálor ever turn it off and appreciate what he had in front of him: A girl who looked like a million Lien who was head over heels for him despite all the insane goofiness I had to put up with along the way." Yang would ball her fists tightly as her sappier side threatened to surface once more before finally glaring at Mercury himself. "I would've gladly shown him the world as we traveled around Remnant kicking all kinds of Grimm ass! Instead all I ever got from him were 'too sweet's', stupid hand gestures, that goddamn theme song and-"
She would stop talking as she felt the anger slowly sliding off of her shoulders, only to be surprised as Mercury got down on one knee and took her hands in his with a small smile as a blush slowly crept upon her cheeks.
"Sounds like you were really put through the wringer by your ex." The dark eyed Huntsman would look into her eyes, seeing the true depths of the pain she had kept locked up for a good amount of time. "Tell ya what spitfire, if it really bothers you that much then I won't go to the show. I can't promise that I'll cut it all out entirely, but I can certainly put you ahead of whatever event happens to fly my way."
The blonde brawler would smile despite the fact that she had come off as something of the girl in love that she usually hated, at least Mercury was trying to attempt to put her needs ahead of his own wants and that was more then the wolf Faunus had ever contemplated doing. "I'm…I'm gonna hold you to that ya know." Yang would try to put on the best cheesy grin she could possibly muster, even as Mercury gave a cool and confident smile back her way. "And I'm still not a big fan of that nickname you've given me either."
He would chuckle as he joined her in sitting on the bench and admiring her beauty, which was perfect even in the dull fluorescent lighting of a street lamp.
"Gotta admit, beats being called something stupid like…I dunno, 'blondie'?"
Mercury would smile smugly as he finished recounting the story of his date with Yang as the two of them had since begun walking to their next class for the day, even as Emerald shook her head in distaste at his actions at the time.
"Okay, at no point in that story did you try to make a pass at the bimbo." The tan-skinned woman would pretend to gag at the overall sweetness of it all. "You were actually a somewhat overly sappy gentleman." She would walk ahead of him a few steps and grin before faking a swoon.
"Oh Mercury, forget that shitty wrestling and run away with me!" Adapting a falsetto voice and blushing and continuing to spout sweet nothings, Emerald would continue to mock him as the steely eyed man would continue forward into Oobleck's class even as the terrible impersonation continued, at the end of the day Mercury Black knew he had a role to play in the grand scheme of Cinder's great plan and when the time came, he would do his part to make sure that things would go off without a hitch.
I was honestly very tempted to continue this chapter by adding a Bálor segment but it would just kill the flow of this chapter outright, I hope I did Thermometer fans...okay, I can't say 'Proud' because I'm not a huge fan of the pairing. But it beats the heck out of the standard OCxYang dynamic I had with Conversations.
Next Chapter we dive into a bit more Bálor-centric things plus the opening of "Round One" where our favorite cookie loving red hood visits dear old mom.
If, for any reason you'd like to see any of my other works get an update then drop me a PM. Until then, stay tuned for Chapter 3 of Dissonance!