Day 5! Still going strong. Let's get a look at some of our favorite villains. I've heard people refer to this pairing as Em&M. I feel that this definitely needs to be a thing!

Mercury had to admit it: When drunk, Emerald was almost pleasant.

Rather than becoming angry or stupid like most people he knew, she became more chill and relaxed than she ever was while sober. Comments by Mercury that would normally draw an eye-roll or a repressed snort instead brought a full laugh from her. She also became weirdly clingy, often leaning into Mercury in order to keep from stumbling or slumping against him when they were sitting.

In the morning, she would accept a mug of coffee from him without comment and go back to being her regular, sarcastic self. Mercury never made fun of her or brought up her behavior, mostly because he didn't want her to get angry and potentially stop trusting him to care for her.

Not only did he not trust anyone else to look after her, but he actually enjoyed doing so. The lazy smile she would give him was enough to cause a flush to rise on the back of his neck. The way she leaned into his side, practically cuddling with him, filled him with a sense of peace. Cinder had once said that drunk people don't act out of character. Everything they do is something they think of doing when sober. The removed inhibitions simply allow for more freedom to act.

Mercury hoped that this was true, at least in Emerald's case.

It was the Winter Solstice and Cinder had decided to give her subordinates a small break. This took the form of a party, courtesy of Torchwick. A large tree had been set up and there were White Fang members chatting in every corner of the room. There was also spiked eggnog. Lots of spiked eggnog.

Emerald was on her fourth cup and had fallen into her accustomed position of leaning against Mercury as they sat on an armchair in the corner of the room. They had already exchanged their presents (a new set of lockpicks for Emerald and a pair of black leather boots for Mercury), and were calmly watching the party with no wish to actually interact with anyone else.

After finishing her eggnog, Emerald eyed the glass. Her head was pretty muzzy at this point, and she already anticipated stumbling most of the way to her room. "I should probably stop, huh?" she mumbled.

Mercury took the cup and placed it on a nearby table, secretly relieved that he wouldn't have to convince her to stop. "Probably," he replied, wrapping his arm a little tighter around her shoulders.

"Not trying to cop a feel, I hope," Emerald muttered, yawning as she rested her head on his chest.

"I could if you asked nicely," Mercury shot back, grinning deviously.

Emerald weakly punched his free arm. "Hmph. You wish." Too tired to withdraw her hand, she just let it drop so that her arm ended up draped across her partner's midsection.

At that moment, a very drunk Torchwick stumbled over. "Well, aren't you two adorable?" he slurred, fixing his askew hat. "Gonna be hogging the mistletoe later?"

Emerald gave him a dry look. "Even if we were planning on it, doing it now would just make us feel dirty. Creep."

An evil thought occurred to Mercury. "I think I saw Cinder near one of the sprigs. You could always try to catch her."

Torchwick's grin widened. "Ya don't say. Thanks for the tip, kid." He ruffled Mercury's hair before stumbling off.

Emerald blinked slowly. "Was she really near some mistletoe?"

Mercury snickered. "Yes! She actually was."

The lazy smile on Emerald's face quickly widened to an impressed smirk. "Oh, he's a dead man!"

"Wanna go watch the carnage?"

His partner considered for a moment before reluctantly shaking her head. "Nah. We might get caught in the crossfire. Besides, I'm tired."

"Tired of people or tired in general?"

"Yes."

Mercury stood and helped Emerald up before leading her toward the hallway that led to their shared room. He walked slowly, keeping an eye on her in case she started to stumble too much. As they turned a corner, a flash of white above them caught his attention.

He paused, looking up to see a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. "How many of these did Torchwick put up?" he snorted, shaking his head.

Emerald followed his gaze. "Huh." She looked up at her partner. "Think we should keep with tradition?"

It took a second for Mercury to realize what she was talking about. "Huh?" He blinked dumbly at her, suddenly finding himself at a loss for words. After a few seconds of gaping like an idiot, he managed to laugh. "Uh, didn't you say it would make you feel dirty?"

"When Torchwick was watching us, yeah," Some part of Emerald's brain knew that she should be blushing or playing this off as a joke at this point. The rest of her couldn't care less.

Mercury blinked down at her, hesitating for a moment before slowly, cautiously leaning closer. He waited for Emerald to punch him or say that she had been kidding. Instead, she closed the distance, lightly brushing his lips with hers. He closed his eyes and pulled her a little closer. Her lips tasted of eggnog and cinnamon and he really wanted to take this further. If she had been sober, he definitely would have.

Instead, he forced himself to move back, checking to make sure his grip on her was secure. "Come on," he muttered, his voice thicker than usual. "Let's get you to the room. I'm not carrying you if you fall asleep here."

Emerald yawned, leaning into his side with a lazy grin as they continued down the hall. "Whatever. Jerk."

I'm pretty sure that Emerald has a crush on Cinder, but if she had feelings for Mercury, I doubt she'd ever act on them unless inebriated in some way. Their dynamic cracks me up, and I look forward to seeing more of them. Quick note: I've gotten reviews with requests for certain pairings. Basically, the way these fics work is that I do whatever I'm inspired to do at the time. Since I'm doing one of these a night, I found that that's the best way to go about this. I'll look at requests, but ultimately I'm gonna write whatever I feel at the time. See you guys again tomorrow. Peace out.