Mercury leaned back and looked over to Emerald, Cinder was going through another treatment, and both were standing by in case they were needed. She looked pale, strained, Salem wasn't leaving any room for Cinder to be vague or rest. It was hard at times to watch her practically scream silently in effort to find her voice; Mercury tried to think of other things while the lessons and treatments were going on. He hadn't seen Ruby in a while and he hoped that for the time being that was the best course of action, he had left in a hurry, didn't even wake her. The thought he might love her was terrifying to him, he didn't know what to do. Emerald perked up as Cinder approached, followed by Salem;
"Her lessons are done for the day. We made real progress, I will take my leave now." She spoke, ever the voice of dark mysteries and undertones of deceit. Mercury straightened up and waited for Salem to leave before turning his concern to Cinder; she looked exhausted, she waited for Salem to turn a corner before holding her hand out to Emerald who braced her gently.
"Let's get you to your room, you need to rest." Emerald chided softly, Mercury trailed behind them, ready to catch either if one gave out. Cinder had fainted a few times, after a particularly brutal session, Salem wanted the truth about Ozpin. She asked that the most, as if she either forgot it or just needed constant reassurance he was dead, the search for some relic continued no matter how many times she asked. They made it and Cinder was placed into her bed gently, she smiled softly and made a short grunt,
"…stay…" she coughed a bit and hunched her shoulders. Neither of her two associates made any move to leave the room, Emerald forced a small smile.
"How about a sleepover…? Like how things were when we infiltrated Beacon?" she offered looking to Mercury with a pleading expression. He smirked
"Just missing the popcorn and chick flicks." He teased while Emerald smacked him playfully, watching Cinder out of the corner of her eye, she had a small, weak, tired smile. Emerald and Mercury went about setting up pallets and a shoddy attempt at a pillow fort; Emerald helped her dress in comfy night clothes and removed all of her jewelry, they plopped her into the pillow fort and she sighed quietly.
"…I-…am…sorry." She forced and Emerald shook her head quickly,
"It's not a problem! You're tired! It's ok." Emerald smiled and sat cross-legged on the floor, wrapped in a blanket. Mercury joined her and leaned back on his palms,
"It's almost like old times, kinda." Mercury hummed, Emerald shrugged.
"Not as fun, but, hey. Taking over the world is never fun." She snickered, Cinder coughed out a chuckle;
"I have to-…agree with…you." She breathed softly. Mercury smirked, a comfortable silence fell over the room before Cinder sat up slowly,
"How…are-…your lives?" she asked softly; Mercury blinked, raising his eyebrows.
"…umm?" Emerald looked at her closely,
"Like…what have we been up too? 'Cause I've just been chilling around here unless there are missions needing to be done or errands Salem wants us to do." She replied casually. Mercury nodded in agreement,
"About the same for me…not much to tell." He murmured, Cinder blinked and looked at the two skeptically.
"As- many times…as I'm-…alone. You don't-…do other things?" she grunted, smirking devilishly; Emerald rolled her eyes
"Besides trying not to die from actual things that can harm you and boredom?" she teased and Cinder's smirk fell into a thin lipped line. Emerald leaned forward a bit and grinned
"Now Mercury on the other hand…he's lying. He has been sleeping around." She snickered, causing Cinder to pull back with a wide eye. Mercury gawked,
"Emerald!" he snapped, she shrugged and dodged a pillow he chucked at her. Emerald slid next to Cinder
"It's true though! He denied a relationship between us to presume the ladies!" Emerald giggled, Cinder smiling warily at him, he flushed an angry shade of red.
"It's only the one!" he snapped and Emerald smirked,
"Oh no. Bewitched by a woman's whiles huh?" she raised her eyebrows in a challenging manner. Mercury glared
"Well if were sharing personal things, maybe we should address the behemoth in the room, tell me, how are your feelings towards Cinder, Em?" he leered. Emerald gasped, her face visibly changing to shock, Cinder frowned in confusion before Emerald stood and huffed
"I respect her greatly, and if you can't take a joke, maybe we should really get down to the nitty gritty, like how you lied during your little maintenance outing about where you were." Emerald snapped, the room falling eerily quiet. Cinder's piercing gaze was trained on him,
"…you weren't at the mechanics overnight, you were at the hotel. I went to the mechanics looking for you, he said you had left in the late afternoon, so my best guess if you were with her at the hotel, yeah?" she sneered. Mercury paled, looking up at her, waiting for her accusation
"You're so lucky Ruby didn't hear you, moaning the way you were." She scoffed, Cinder snickered quietly before patting Emerald's calf.
"Could…you- get some…tea?" she asked gently, Emerald nodded and hopped over the fort heading out of the room to fetch what she needed. Cinder looked to Mercury and glared, he flushed slightly and looked to the side
"Mercury. Be…honest. I have-…my suspicions, who…were you with?" she asked softly. He glared at the floor and pulled his legs up to rest on them, Cinder slapped her hand onto the ground, commanding his attention.
"There have been too many-!" she coughed and hunched over trying to qwell the fit, he hurried to her side and held her carefully as she hacked and wheezed. She finally regained her breath and looked up at him,
"…Ruby-…she has been around…too many times…with you." She breathed pushing him away out of pride. Mercury worried his lip and nodded slowly, keeping his eyes downcast
"Ruby and I…entered a contract. A sexual one. We buy eachother's silence…." He murmured, waiting for Cinder to call for Salem, or kill him herself. Cinder looked at him carefully,
"…can I buy your…silence?" she breathed. Mercury froze and looked at her, completely mortified.
"Ahhh, no. Cinder, I think of you as the closest thing to family, I can't…do sexual favors for you, I mean you're hot but like…it'd be kiss my sister gross?" he began, worriedly waving his hands to pacific her before she began giggling quietly. She shook her head and sighed,
"I meant to buy your silence…by keeping your secret safe?...an exchange…" she hummed. Mercury frowned,
"You're not mad…I sleep around with…the enemy?" he asked carefully, Cinder sighed again and looked to the door.
"If I-…had strength. Maybe…but-…you look…happy. I'm far…too tired-…for measly…revenge. Let…Tyrian…have his fun." She finished with a wry smile, he blinked.
"Pardon...?" he breathed, Cinder leaned back into the pillow pile and smiled weakly,
"I could-…tell something…had happened at-…the expo. You came back…warmer. Like a child-…with a new, pleasuring toy. I connected-…dots soon after…but I saw no harm in letting you play." She hummed, Mercury crawled forward glaring at her.
"Why did you let me continue to do this!? I'm…Shit. Cinder. I fucked up." He croaked, running a hand through his hair. She smirked, raising one brow,
"I know…I figured-…that when you…returned, angry….like you had made-…mistakes. Do you-…care for her?" she asked. Mercury scoffed
"No! I can't, Cinder please, tell me to stop. I can't- Be angry with me! You want Ruby dead! She did this to you!" he snarled gesturing to her state of being. Cinder shrugged slowly, sluggish, like she was falling asleep.
"I can't be angry…because…I want-…to buy…your silence…" she trailed off, one gold eye trained on his. Mercury swallowed thickly, glaring down at her, frustration straining his throat.
"…I didn't- kill Ozpin…not exacly…now…we're even." She murmured, looking at the door as Emerald returned with the tea. Mercury pulled his gaze away from Cinder, trying to mask his surprise. Ozpin…wasn't dead? She was lying…to Salem!? What the hell did she mean!? 'Not exactly' what did she do then? How was someone 'not exactly' dead? Mercury swallowed around the lump in his throat, this information was deadly, knowing it put people at risk. Ozpin not being dead in the most permanent form put a bit of fire under all of their asses. Did Cinder not care that they were on the line when she lied? He could understand it if it was his own fault, getting caught sleeping with the enemy and being killed that way; that was just his own stupidity if it ever came to pass. Cinder lying to Salem about someone that had been on the top of a hit list since the beginning of working for Cinder, was a whole different ball game. Cinder made a slow gesture, a clear shake of her head, keep Emerald out of the loop.
"I got the tea all-…Mercury…are you, crying?" she asked, he scoffed;
"No. Cinder was just chewing my ass out over being safe. Raw dogging is not an option in this world." He forced and impish grin and Emerald groaned.
"Gross Mercury…" she sat down and divvied out cups, Cinder looked at him carefully. They had made an exchange, silence from one to another, he intended to keep it that way; for everyone's sake. It made sense now…kind of, in a weird way at least. Emerald would at least be out of harm's way, she didn't know either secret, but Cinder knew his, he knew hers. If either went down, he could claim ignorance in Cinder's case; Emerald wouldn't know and be honest from the get- go. Mercury could go down for sleeping with Ruby and Cinder as well as Emerald would come out unscathed. Salem depositing her rage all on one single person if she found out on her own terms.
"So…how are the treatments going?" Emerald asked, a tone of concern lacing every word, just from watching parts of the lesson, both knew that it was not pleasant to receive anything from Salem. The treatments dispersed in the lesson, ranged from strange liquids being swallowed down in hopes of freeing Cinder's voice, or strange incantations being spoke in an attempt at unlocking something Mercury nor Emerald could comprehend. Cinder took a small sip of tea and shrugged, looking at both of them with cough,
"Well enough…I assume-…to warrant…Salem's praise." She managed before taking another sip from her cup and settling deeper into the pillows. Mercury lifted the cup to his lip and took a large gulp of the warm liquid, never being one for the taste but he enjoyed the soothing feeling that came over him when Emerald prepared the tea. Emerald was taking small sips here and there, Mercury pulling out his scroll and turning off notifications before setting it to the side to play some small clips of videos that were saved to the scroll. Signal was ok in these parts miraculously, but the same couldn't be said for streaming abilities on the web, Emerald rolled her eyes at one particular clip.
"Really? You saved that? Out of all the interactions we had a Beacon…you saved the one with Ruby and her team, playing fetch with her dog?" Emerald grumbled as the little corgi appeared on screen, dragging one of Emerald's weapons behind it. Ruby was giggling as Emerald charged into the screen, protesting at the dog's behavior, Mercury smirked as Cinder smiled faintly.
"The dog…really got-…you." She breathed looking to Emerald with a soft snicker; Emerald glared at Mercury as the small video reel continued. It had videos of Emerald waking up, slapping him in the face as the scroll toppled to the floor. Others were of small little outings with Neo devouring ice cream and flicking some at her companions, one even had Roman in it. Mercury frowned, it hurt a bit to see him not…dead. He glared at the camera and huffed, blowing smoke at Mercury who had been holding the scroll
"Beat it, I'm busy kid." He gruffed, the audio sounding distant. Cinder sighed and looked at the video with a fondness
"He…was a good-…partner." She hummed, Mercury shrugged a bit and Emerald scoffed.
"I guess…" she mumbled, neither having the heart to disagree given what had happened, they weren't able to find a corpse and no one had seen Neo since they Fall of Beacon, but with the ship destroyed in the crash and no evidence of Roman being alive. He was marked as dead. The video continued until footage finally stopped, there weren't any videos left of their time at Beacon or before in the warehouse bugging Roman or pissing off White Fang members. The ones of Roman left a hollowness in Mercury's gut, he had been an asshole but…he had been a nice guy, the threats he made were empty and his quips of hating children were always deemed untrue when he popped in with surprise breakfast treats claiming
"Ordered too many, don't get any ideas." Mercury frowned as the last video came on, he was filming Emerald getting ready before the Vytal festival. It felt melancholic; that had been some time ago and now they hiding out, fighting, looking for some relic and keeping secrets. Cinder gave a silent yawn, Mercury tucked his scroll away, and Emerald cleaned up after the tea. Emerald made sure Cinder was comfortable, layering an extra blanket on her before Mercury helped her make pallets for the two of them. Cinder fell asleep quickly, leaving her eye patch to the side and remaining silent while she drifted off.
Emerald turned her attention to Mercury as she curled up under her blankets
"What did you guys really talk about? You looked upset…and being told to 'be safe'…isn't exactly a tear-jerker." Emerald whispered, close to his ear, he made a noise.
"Didn't exactly talk about being safe, more so how I should be careful…meeting the woman." He grunted, rolling onto his side away from Emerald and pulling his covers up to his neck. Emerald hummed quietly
"Who is she? The woman…for you to see her repeatedly…I want to know what kind of person she is." Emerald murmured, Mercury sighed and rolled onto his back and glared at the ceiling.
"We're not a thing…it's a contract…she's not in it for a relationship and neither am I." he growled, Emerald raised her eyebrows skeptically.
"So the sex is so good she's willing to meet you in different towns and you refuse me?" she grinned, Mercury snickered
"Don't put yourself so high, Em. I just got smart enough to know better…relationships make everything…harder." He muttered, glancing at her. She pouted a bit
"I mean, yeah…but they can also make you feel, I don't know, better? It takes some of the pressure off. A significant other to help you through things…" Emerald trailed off, Mercury frowned looking at her with an intent gaze.
"Yeah…and I know you'd like someone to do that for you…Emerald…I'm not good for anyone. Not really." He forced a half smile and she scoffed
"Now whose being high? Thinking I was asking for you personally…no I asked if you wanted to be a thing because Cinder pointed out…that you came back different one day. I thought something in you had finally snapped. The breaking point, you're a strong man. Strongest I have come to know, mentally and physically. I'd bet you could give Adam Taurus a run for his money…the problem is…you're soft inside." Emerald hummed, pulling herself up and carding her fingers through his hair as he adjusted to resting his head on her lap. He looked to Cinder and them his legs, a distance set into his eyes, he was listening intently and trying to think of a reply.
"You let some bimbo wriggly her way inside and now you're vulnerable to her, going out of your way to see her. She's gotta be special to you in some way." She grunted coming upon a tangle in his hair, even though it was spiked and choppy in places the longer spots got messy one in a while.
"She's not a bimbo. She's not special. She's just a woman, Emerald. It doesn't matter, she's got dirt on me. I have dirt on her, the sex just keeps us quiet." He grumbled and Emerald sighed heavily and jabbed his cheek pointedly.
"Ow! Hey-" he began to snap, pulling himself upright, Emerald shushed him and glared, looking to Cinder and back. He quieted and muttered under his breath,
"Tell me about her?" Emerald asked softly, a kinder look falling into place. Mercury blinked and looked to the floor,
"She's…shy. Really, really shy sometimes, like, she won't even say 'fuck'. She can't, she finds it too dirty for dirty talk! It's…sweet, I guess. She's also got a thing for metal so that's a plus for me, I can shove my legs anywhere and it'll still make her mo-" Emerald cut him off with an irritated flush spreading onto her face.
"Besides in the bedroom, what kind of person is she. Like, does she sing, dance, kill Grimm for a living? Happy-go-lucky, doom and gloom? Who is she?" she asked with a slight huff, sending him a sharp look. Mercury rolled his eyes and looked to the ceiling this time;
"She's innocent, pure…too good for me, that's for sure. She lights up a room with a cheesy grin and a little quip about something stupid. She is shy, though, about a lot of things, she likes…the interactions we have. She's a good girl, she won't kill me off if that's what you're worried about, Em." He teased, laying back on his pallet with a wink, she growled and went back to her pallet as well.
"Whatever. As long as it's not some brat…or Dust forbid one of the girls from Beacon." Emerald scoffed, burrowing into her covers. Mercury chuckled lightly and let his face contort into a deep grimace, that warning was a little late. He was already smitten with a little redhead who looked way too good in his shirts. Immediately, his mind pulled forth an memory of Ruby, sleeping in his shirt, too baggy for her frame showing the outline of smooth flesh the peaked at her breasts. He had left in a hurry, wearing his clothes, forgoing his shirt, so he had to feed out a lie that he has spilt something on it that ate threw it like moths who had been starving to death until his shirt appeared.
He knew Ruby had it, he didn't want to ask for it back, mainly because he enjoyed the idea of her sleeping in it nightly, breathing in the smell of oil, metal, and himself. Maybe touching her slickened folds- Mercury's eyes shot open. He could not afford to get an erection in a room full of woman who were already riding his ass in the bad way. He willed himself to go to sleep, pushing off all thoughts of the petite female who had stolen much more than he had thought she ever could. She even did it unknowingly.
The rest of the week was decent, nothing major happened…oh. Aside from Tyrian returning with his tail cut off. That pretty much ruining everyone's week because Salem was furious. Beyond furious to be honest, she was enraged.
"Some little girl and that Branwen bested you!?" she snarled, eyes practically glowing with her rage. Mercury and Emerald hovered by the entrance to the room, the same one she had assigned Tyrian to go off looking for Ruby in. Now she looked ready to disembowel him, he cowered beneath her, bowing as if she was some Queen, in she was in her own way. Cinder sat closest too her, the treatment had been put on pause when he hurried in, hunched over, his scorpion tail missing the stinger and bandaged. Mercury could only think of Ruby, if she was ok, if she was injured. Ruby may have cut his stinger off but he didn't want to know how much damage he had done to her to begin with. Salem dismissed them, they left with Cinder in a hurry. Mercury excused himself and contemplated dialing her, he could get caught if he wasn't careful; but not knowing what had happened was going to eat at him. He dialed and paced his room anxiously as it rang, she didn't pick up; it only rang once so she had seen him calling. He got a message back,
'I'm fine.' And that was all he needed to know. He didn't reply, only pocketed his scroll and fell into his bed with a heavy sigh of relief. He'd be lying to himself if he didn't admit he had come to care for her, deeply. The very thought of her not only stirred his desire but made his chest flood with warmth or ache sometimes with the thoughts of her, meeting people, finding the actual 'one', and realizing all they had was a fling anyway. He wanted desperately for this to just be a fling but at the same time, he didn't want it to just stop once they were satisfied. He wanted her, past all this bullshit war, if they lived past it all he knew he'd want her then. He groaned and rolled onto his side, glaring at the covers of his bed. He felt so…broody, like some teenager trying to figure out how casual sex had become 'well shit I want to marry her'. Though he wasn't a teenager, he was a young man in his twenties who had the sexual knowledge of a teenager who didn't start fucking until he was 19. He growled lowly as a piercing scream echoed through the castle walls, Dust knows what Salem was doing to Tyrian. Mercury might have felt bad for him were it not for the fact Tyrian pissed him off while simultaneously sending shivers of un-edge down his spine. He didn't really pinpoint when he had drifted off.
There were fingers trailing along his neck, he grumbled and rolled onto his back as a soft giggled reached his ears, he pried one eye open to glare at the offender when his breath caught in his throat. Ruby smirked and pulled back, slender figure illuminated by the red sky perfectly once more. Some part of his brain registered it was a dream but the sleep haze made that hard to understand, he smiled sheepishly as she crawled along him, his t-shirt once again being the biggest turn on as she pulled at the fabric, covering her crotch in a playful manner.
"Do you miss me?" she cooed breathlessly, Mercury groaned lowly
"You have no idea how much…" another giggle. Ruby's free hand played with his jacket zipper and pulled on it gently,
"How come I'm the only one so exposed?" she smirked lifting herself at the knees and rolling her hips and pressing the wad of his bunched up shirt against herself, she gasped softly.
"Oh, I'd like to fix that issue now." He held back a moan, he didn't know what it was about his dust-be-damned shirt but he knew it was about the sexiest thing he had seen since he had last had her underneath him. He fumbled with his clothes and pinned her down, biting his lip at the sight of the wet spot on his shirt
"Are you gonna fuck me?" she moaned, arching her back. Mercury paused, the haze clearing for a second, Ruby couldn't dirty talk, not yet anyway. Ruby glared,
"Mercury…? I'm waiting…" she breathed, squirming her hips. He shook his head and smirked,
"Sorry." He mumbled leaning down to suck at her neck, she hummed in pleasure and rocked her hips, he met them with his own and was pleasantly surprised to find she didn't have any panties covering her vagina. She was aroused and waiting for him, he grinned and nipped at her neck, his hand sliding into his shirt and cupping her breasts. Pinching the nipple for good measure, her little moans and gasps were perfect; he pulled away from her neck and practically tore the shirt off her before latching on to her other nipple and biting it gently. He sucked and nipped at it gently, pulling back to blow on it with cool breaths, Ruby's hips were spasming.
"Mercury…Mercury please." She whined softly, he pulled himself up and grinned, his arousal felt like lava boiling in his gut, he felt way to hot being in his boxers. He was sweaty, horny, and couldn't wait to be inside his Ruby again- he paused, the haze clearing again. Since when was Ruby…his? They weren't a thing. He began to pull back when her legs were at his prosthetics and she moaned loudly, the boiling worsened and slid his boxers down as fast as he could get them off, Ruby wouldn't stop moaning as she felt the cold metal sear her skin. Mercury hunched over her and pressed his mouth to hers to quiet her down and grabbed her hips to steady them, some part of his brain registered the missing steps but he was inside her in one fluid motion, moaning out her name into her mouth. He sucked at her teeth as he set a rhythm, fast but deep. He broke away from her to breath, trying to find some way to cool himself down. Everything felt hot, he thrust into her again, and moaned. Ruby was clinging to him, his shirt thrown somewhere in the room, she was sweaty and sweet smelling, like rose oils.
He pulled out and slammed back into her, hard. She cried out, it started it out like a scream but was choked off by her strangled moans, he smirked and lifted her hips as he propped himself up, thrusting down into her as she held onto him. The boiling arousal seemed to spike
"Ruby…" he moaned loudly as he felt his orgasm begin, for a brief second he felt a cooling breeze before he slammed into the floor in a tangle of blankets and a hot sticky feeling coating his body. He grunted and winced as he felt his release oozing out into his boxers…pants, smearing on his thighs. He inhaled sharply, a wet dream, how nice of his mind to think he needed some form of stress relief. He propped onto his elbows and kicked his covers off, that explained the heat, he had tangled himself in them during his throws of imaginary sex. He sat up and froze, eyes going wide, any misery caused by the feeling of cumming in your pants paled in comparison to the site of Emerald looking at him like she had just witnessed a murder. He felt his throat go dry, she blinked and stepped into the room and closed the door with a quiet, 'click'. He tried to form words, tried to think of an excuse, he didn't know if he had called out for Ruby, of if she was just shocked to have walked in on her friend of a few years having a wet dream.
The silence was worse than the heat. Emerald cleared her throat and crossed her arms, confusion in her eyes.
"Please tell me…I misheard you…" she breathed finally, looking at him with a hard glare; Mercury gaped and made a small noise before shaking his head, face red with shame. Emerald closed her eyes and inhaled slowly
"Of all the things you could do. Of all of your options in the world…you have to come to the consensus of Ruby fucking Rose!?" she demanded throwing her arms out wide and approaching him like she was going to instill the fear of Dust in him. He faltered briefly before steeling himself
"I think you meant, fucking Ruby Rose."
This one is extremely short compared to the others, I wanted to focus a bit on the other things and the impending slap to the face the Mercury will probably be dead or fleeing for the sake of 'shit I have fucked up' and also maybe getting the girl. Also I really want Cinder and Emerald aware of him and Ruby, because then he gets to lie and be a little shiet. So I'm track! Next one probably gonna be about 10000 because promised shower sex and that might take a bit, plus more expieremental stuff! Sorry this one was short, but it's like a break from all that intense smut. Just Mercury getting a little frisky with dream Ruby who is a bit more frisky herself compared to the real one who will probably never master dirty talk. Yes.
