Mercury Black was not a happy camper. He wasn't even a mad camper. He was more like a really-ultra-nervous camper who probably had forgotten to feed his goldfish before he'd left home. His hair was messed up unintentionally and the circles under his eyes had come back. If Cinder had noticed, she hadn't said anything.
"How'd you even know it was him?" Emerald frowned into the mirror as she messed with her makeup. Mercury pulled at his shirt sleeves.
"Ma showed me pictures." He shrugged, and Emerald could tell there was more to it than that, but didn't press. She finished curling her lashes, looked at her partner and sighed.
"You're a mess," she mumbled as she turned him to face her and started working. The circles and frown lines slowly disappeared under concealer and cream. Mercury let his partner work on his face while his mind wandered off. Why here, why now? It'd only been a day and already Mercury was driving himself mad. It'd be easier if Roman was here, but he wasn't, and Mercury was still reeling from that entire situation anyway.
Hearing that Roman had been caught had been tough for both him and Emerald. They'd hardly left each other alone since then, as if they were both afraid that splitting up would mean the other might disappear too. Neo had been worried but got over it quickly, and Cinder was...Cinder, but Mercury couldn't stop thinking about him, and if the fact that Emerald still had Roman's lighter was any indication she couldn't either. Emerald had wanted to go after him, at first. Mercury had too, but the impossibility of breaking into James Ironwood's highest-security jail facilities was too daunting a task, and it wasn't one Cinder needed done. It still didn't feel right, to just leave Roman like that. He'd been the closest thing to a dad either of them had ever had, and Mercury was more attached to him than he'd care to admit.
Emerald had suggested they both try to relax more at the tournament, and it'd been going pretty well until he'd shown up. Qrow Branwen: legendary hunter/informant, uncle to the annoyingly-persistent Ruby and Yang, definitely a danger to Cinder's plans, and also Mercury's biological dad.
"I...remember bits and pieces, too." Emerald stopped messing with his eyebrows for a second. "Just a little, I was really young when he left." Emerald didn't say anything, and neither did he for a bit. She finished with his face and moved around him to get at his hair, reaching for the bottle of gel sitting on the counter. Emerald shoved his shoulders down, forcing him to sit on the floor. Normally he'd make a remark about her height. Normally he'd do his own cosmetics. Today just wasn't a normal day, apparently. Emerald let out a quiet breath that might have been a sigh.
"Look, I know this is...hard, but we've got a battle today."
"It's not like we're going to lose." Mercury shrugged. The tile floor was cold. Emerald flicked him on the head.
"Just because it's rigged doesn't mean we can just sit there," she pulled at his hair and he winced, "we'll have to at least make it look impressive." Mercury grunted in agreement and annoyance. As much as he liked showing off, now was not the time. He hadn't slept quietly in forever, and he hadn't gotten any sleep at all last night. Emerald tapped his shoulder to tell him she was done, and as soon as he was on his feet, she dragged him out the door.
Cinder was waiting for them out in the hallway, dressed in her 'casual' undercover clothes, if anything that woman wore could be considered 'casual.' She greeted them both with a curt nod, apparently pleased that Mercury looked relatively presentable this time around. She'd torn them both a new one when he'd been less-than-put-together after Roman's capture. But she looked alright now, which was a good thing; the whole 'oh and by the way, one of the greatest hunters of the age is here and is probably going to be working security' thing hadn't exactly pleased her. Like at all.
"I hope you're ready for today?" Cinder-speak translation: you haven't forgotten what we went over last night, did you?
"Got it," both of them nodded. They'd split them up and draw them into places the cameras had trouble seeing, and then Neo could step in and ensure their victory. As if they wouldn't've won without her help. But either way, Mercury was glad that he didn't actually have to worry about winning; at least this was one thing that was already set.
"Your match isn't until later," Cinder continued. "RWBY isn't participating today, they'll be relaxing elsewhere or preparing for their doubles, and I'd expect Branwen would want to spend some time with his nieces before he gets to work." Cinder-speak translation: you can do what you want until your match. Mercury nodded again.
"Sweet," Emerald grinned "We'll be at the fairgrounds." She pulled Mercury's arm and led him away down a branching hallway, kicked open the stairwell door, and took two at a time. She turned to look at him as he came down the last steps, bouncing on the balls of her feet, probably already anticipating the match. "Come on, let's get something to eat, I'm starving." Mercury's stomach betrayed him.
"...Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Better than sitting around doing nothing and, god forbid, having time to think about things. He'd had quite enough of that already; hopefully between Emerald and the match later, he wouldn't have to.