She was stalling. She knew that she was being stupid, that really, she wasn't accomplishing anything by putting it off. Just delaying the inevitable, and making herself sick with worry as the anticipation built up inside of her.
But try as she might, every time Emerald dragged herself off of her bed and brought herself right in front of her door, she could never bring herself to open it. She pressed her ear to the door, listening for footsteps, and even got down on her belly to look underneath the crack at the bottom, but she didn't dare to even crack it open to take a peek.
"This is so stupid," She groaned for the hundredth time, once again flopping down on her bed. She had been arguing with herself for nearly two hours, trying to convince herself that no, going out into the rest of the house would not result in her immediate demise.
She was failing, of course. Miserably. Not because she expected Salem, or Cinder to suddenly find out exactly where they were, and kill them for running away, although that technically wasn't impossible. Neither was she concerned over Jadis possibly sending someone to cause trouble for her, and that was a bit more likely.
No, the reason she couldn't leave her shared room, was because Mercury was still in the house.
It wasn't her fault, really. Or Mercury's, for that matter. It wasn't something she had consciously tried to do, and honestly, she just wished it never happened in the first place. She had been happy, for a while. It was nice to be comfortable around someone else, not having to worry about whether they might steal from you, or try to kill you. It was nice to trust someone, and have them actually give a damn about what happens to you.
Too nice, unfortunately.
Emerald blamed Saphron. If it wasn't for her stupid comment about the two of them looking cute together, she probably never would have noticed anything. Or at least, not for a while. She should have just kept her mouth shut.
She had immediately shot down whatever ideas Saphron had about her and Mercury, flatly denying them. Which was absolutely true, there was nothing going on between the two of them. She had never even considered it, before.
But then Saphon had to run her mouth, and all of a sudden Emerald can't think of anything else. She thought about everything they have done for each other since running from Evernight, and how well they know each other, despite how long they've actually worked together. She thought about just how comfortable he made her feel, just being around him, how fast he's able to get her to relax.
And sometimes, she found herself looking at him for a little longer than she would like to admit. His hair always seemed perfectly combed, even though she knew for a fact he never bothered to do anything more complicated than brush his hair out of his face, and it was kinda hard not to notice how toned he was when they trained together constantly.
Or at least, they used to. He had caught her staring, a few times, and given her a strange look once or twice, but never pressed her about it. Despite that, it was enough to send her anxiety skyrocketing, and she had taken to avoiding all human contact like the plague rather than be forced to endure possible embarrassment. It was a reasonable trade off, in her opinion.
He probably didn't think anything was off. Mercury could be ridiculously dense at times. Unless he thought there was some risk of danger, he generally did his best to tune out what other people were feeling.
Although maybe he might notice this time, because it's me? Emerald felt her stomach flutter at the thought against her will, and immediately groaned, kicking her feet up in the air. "Ugh, I sound like one of those kids at Beacon!" She hated just how much this was affecting her. This can't continue.
Emerald dragged herself out of bed yet again, intent on finally making it at least out of the room. To her credit, she actually managed to fit her hand around the doorknob before grinding to a halt. She paused, before taking a moment to look at her clothes. It was the same outfit she had worn yesterday, she hadn't gotten a chance to change yet. Should she bother? She didn't think she smelled bad, but maybe she was sick and she just wasn't showing symptoms yet. Would Mercury even care? She doubted it, he always wore pretty much the same outfit, with a few mild variations, but maybe she should change anyways, just in case.
She let her head fall against the door. "This is so stupid," She sighed again. After everything she had been through, every awful thing she had endured, every dangerous situation she had successfully navigated, she finally met her match because she was afraid of embarrassing herself around a boy that she liked. Never mind the fact that she was acting like some weird, freaky shut in, refusing to come out of their room.
Emerald almost turned around to admit defeat once more, when a sudden thought popped into her head, and her eyes widened. Jadis. The last time they had spoken, she seemed like she might be getting tired of waiting. Like she might decide to try something. Emerald had been meaning to tell Mercury, but had forgotten about it in the midst of…everything.
Well I have to leave, now, if only to ask him to keep an eye out. She latched onto that thought, treating it like a lifeline. It was a legitimate, undeniable reason to finally drag herself out of their room, and it was something that couldn't be put off.
Frankly, she thought it was ridiculous that it took something potentially life threatening just to get her to talk to someone who was supposed to be her closest, her only friend, but she wasn't going to complain. After how the last couple days had been, she'd take anything she could get to force herself to leave.
Emerald groaned, finally wrenching the door open before she managed to talk herself out of it. It would be fine. It's not like anything that bad could really happen, anyways. And even if it did, it would be much better to get it over with, anyways.
Just as she had thought, Mercury was out in the living room. He had taken off one of his legs, and laid it on the table. He was going over it with some sort of tool she couldn't name, but had seen him use before. He seemed focused. On the plus side, it's just me and him. If I wind up embarrassing myself, no one else will be here to see it.
She waited to see if he would notice her. He had put the tool he originally had away, and was polishing his leg with a cloth now. I could just leave now, she mused. He still hasn't realized I'm here. But then she'd just be right back where she was before she left their room, after finally getting out. Besides, she still needed to tell him about Jadis.
Emerald cleared her throat. He didn't jump, or call her out, or anything immediately noticeable like that. He never did. But she saw how he tensed for the briefest moment, and how his grip tightened on his leg like he was ready to use it as a weapon. She also noticed how he instantly relaxed once he recognized her voice, and Emerald barely managed to hide a smile once she realized.
"What's up?" She asked. She couldn't go wrong with that. Nice, simple, to the point. Perfect.
Mercury shrugged. "Nothing." He went back to polishing his leg. "You finally drag yourself out of bed then? You've been asleep all day."
Fuck, he noticed. She almost slapped herself. Of course he did! How would he not? The house was bigger than anything she had ever lived in, outside of Beacon and Evernight, but it wasn't exactly a mansion. It would be hard not to notice. Did he think she was weird now?
It didn't matter. She still had the age old strategy of bullshiting her way out of every situation. She shook her head. "I wasn't sleeping at all," She denied.
He frowned. "So what were you doing? You don't need new sheets, do you?"
"Ew, no, asshole!" Her face turned beet red. Trust Mercury to say the worst possible thing, at the worst possible time! Couldn't he see that she was having a hard enough time as it was staying cool? Wait, no, she didn't want him to realize that. "I was thinking, jerk."
Mercury smirked. "You can actually think?" He clicked his tongue. "And to think you've been holding out on me all this time…"
She punched his arm lightly, sitting across from him. "Yes, Mercury, I can, believe it or not."
"Hey, I was just making sure!" He held his hands up in defense. "You've been cooped up in our room all day, not to mention yesterday, I was beginning to wonder if you were turning into some kind of zombie"
Emerald laughed, relaxing in her seat. "No, thankfully. Just…thinking."
"About?" It took her a few seconds to realize it was Mercury who spoke. Her eyes widened. That's…unusual, for him to just ask unprompted like that. Good unusual, in her opinion. I needed to bring it up eventually.
"Jadis," She finally answered. "I spoke with her a couple days ago. I tried telling her again and again that the train was delayed, and that she'd just have to wait but she's getting impatient. Very impatient. She told me we can find another buyer, but that's not what I'm worried about. She kept pushing me about giving her the time the train is going to arrive, I'm worried she might try to take the manifest and rob it herself, and cut us out of it completely."
Mercury was quiet for a moment. He put the cloth away, reattaching his leg, and stretching it back and forth. He stood up and sighed, running his hands down his face. "Why? Why does this lady have to be such a fucking headache? I mean, we come to her, with the offer of the century, after she had the gall to screw you over, and she wants to get her panties in a bunch because it's taking too long?" He was pacing back and forth now. "I'm gonna fucking kill her."
Emerald groaned. "Mercury,"
"No!" He interrupted. "I'm serious, I'm gonna kill her. I wanted to kill her when she screwed you over, right before you first came up with the idea of selling to her. Nobody just gets to insult you like that, period. But I chose to be mature, and let bygones be bygones, because we could use her to sell off the dust. But now? She's blown her chance. If she wants to threaten you, I'll just kill her and be done with it, we can find someone else to-"
"Mercury!" She yelled, and he came to a halt. "Relax. It's not…I don't think it's that serious, not just yet. I'm pretty sure she was just angry, and said something stupid in the heat of the moment. I seriously doubt she'd pass up a chance like this. I just wanted to warn you ahead of time, so we're both on the same page."
He huffed, crossing his arms. "She better not, after what we've offered her. I'm half tempted to pay her a visit right now, just for making you think she might pull something. She knows who we are, she should know just how monumentally stupid it is to piss us off.
She felt her heart begin to race, and the red returned to her cheeks. He was getting really worked up over this, and she honestly believed him when he said he wanted to kill her. Over me. He's getting worked up, because she threatened me. Her hands started to shake a little, so she placed them in her lap.
Emerald decided to test her luck. "It's just a little weird, seeing you get so defensive over me," She observed. She tried to keep her voice level, but some of her nervousness crept in, making her voice shake as well.
Mercury shrugged. "Yeah, well, we're friends, aren't we? Pretty sure that's what I'm supposed to do."
She couldn't resist a laugh. "Whatever happened to the old Mercury, hmm?" Her mind went back to the early days of when they first met. He seemed like a completely different person. "According to you, you didn't see the point in friends."
"I didn't," He admitted. "Still don't really get it if I'm being honest with myself, and I'm pretty damn sure we're not exactly the picture of a normal friendship. But before, I never really saw the point in friends. It just seemed like a waste of time, to me. I never understood what the use was, and I never wanted one." He leaned back on a wall. "Course, that all changed after Beacon. A lot of things changed after Beacon."
Emerald bit her lip. Then does he mean…? She couldn't help but ask. "So…are we just friends because we stuck together? Because we have to be?" Emerald regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.
Mercury scowled, and she almost winced in guilt. Why the hell would I ask that? Fucking idiot, use your head for once!
He crossed his arms."Gee, I'm not sure, Em. I guess wasting months of my time, staying at Evernight when I could have split anytime just to try and get you to see sense, was actually just because we got stuck working together. No other reason."
Her stomach dropped. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that," Sure you do, a nasty voice told her. You're selfish, and you wanted him to know if he felt the same way you do. "Just forget I said anything," Please, she begged in her thoughts. Just let it drop. I'm sorry for asking.
He didn't. Instead, he pushed himself off the wall. "No, actually, I don't think I will. What exactly was it you asked about? Why we're friends?" He went back to pacing around the room, his words coming out almost in a panic. "Maybe because you have the self preservation instinct of a suicidal fruitfly? Maybe because I got sick of watching you fawn over Cinder, looking for the smallest scrap of attention or recognition?"
"Hey, you don't know what it was like!" Emerald protested. Cinder was…she was the first person that she had thought cared for her. She had been willing to risk a lot to keep pretending that she mattered to someone.
"I know exactly what it was like," Mercury snarled. "My father beat me for as long as I can remember, keeping me up in the mountains away from people for as long as he could. He'd lock me out on cold nights when I complained, telling me to get used to the cold. Every fuck up during training was a black bruise, or a broken bone. Every complaint earned a punishment. And when he decided on a whim that I used my semblance too often, that I was starting to rely on it?" Mercury leaned in close. "He ripped it out of me using his."
Emerald took a step back, her mouth open in shock. "I…I didn't know." I'm so sorry. I never should have said something. She knew snippets of Mercury's past, and knew he hated his father for some reason, but she never would have guessed that. She just assumed he hadn't unlocked his semblance. Aura was a part of someone's soul, and if his father had torn it away from him…
"Yeah, well, you do now," Mercury laughed bitterly. "And the best part? I hated the man down to my core, but before he took my semblance, I still thought I could prove myself to him, somehow. That I could be good enough, and that maybe, I'd get to have at least one parent." His eyes fell, and his shoulders slumped. "Then he took a part of my soul. And when I tried to run away, he took my legs too."
Emerald couldn't find the words to speak up. She assumed he lost his legs on some mission before they found him. Mercury noticed her silence, and answered the unasked question. "Remember when you and Cinder first came to recruit my old man? It was a couple weeks before that. There were still bloody bandages around my thighs, and I hadn't fully gotten used to my legs yet." He smiled. "Which means I beat that piece of shit without a semblance and crippled."
His smile fell, and he spoke more quietly. "So, yeah, when I saw how you were with Cinder, I got a little angry. Pretty angry, actually. I hated having to look at you every day, because you kept reminding me of life before I killed my old man. But I never hated you. I saw too much and too little of myself in you to hate you." He sighed. "Look, I don't know why I care, exactly. I don't understand it. I'm not good at understanding this kind of thing, never have been. But I'm pretty sure we're friends, Em. If not, then I don't know. All I do know is that I happen to give a damn what happens to you, and no one is gonna screw with you while I can do something about it."
"Mercury…" She wanted so badly to go back and punch herself in the face before she ever opened her stupid mouth. I never should have left our room today. I should have just stayed a nervous wreck the entire time, rather than this.
He sighed again, rubbing his neck. "Right, well, I'm gonna do a bit of training now, get something done." He waved a hand towards her. "You…you just do whatever you want." Mercury turned to go, leaving her alone in her thoughts.
Emerald stood in silence for a moment, before unconsciously grabbing her arm. Are you happy now? She asked herself bitterly. You got what you wanted. He cares about you, he admitted as much. All you had to do was possibly fuck up the only decent relationship you ever had in your miserable life. All because you wanted to know if he liked you in the same way you liked him.
She groaned, backing into the wall and sliding to the floor. Her heart was pounding out of her chest, and tears began to silently fall down her cheeks. She wanted nothing more than to go after Mercury, and apologize, but what if that made things even worse? Should she just stay, and wait and see? Maybe it's not as big of a deal as she thought. Or maybe, it's even worse!
She choked back a sob, wrapping her arms around her legs and bringing them under her chin.
"I'm sorry," She whispered to no one.
Mercury grunted as he accidentally beheaded the last of the training dummies, sending its head flying into the wall with a solid thunk. He delivered another kick to the torso of the dummy out of spite, toppling it over. Cheap garbage.
He had stolen a half dozen of the things, training dummies rejected from Sanctum academy, and set them up in their old "apartment" not too long after they had arrived in Argus. Unfortunately, they were rejected for a reason, and couldn't take much more than a few good hits before falling apart.
This was the last one he had, and he had actually managed to make it last for nearly two weeks now. Terra and Saphron had another spare room, and he had moved around a few things to clear a space so he and Emerald could train. They hadn't said anything, and he assumed they were fine with it. They thought they were Beacon students, after all, it'd make sense they would need a place to train. And they did, both of them. And while it meant they'd lose a room for one of them to use, neither he nor Emerald had a problem sharing if it meant they had a room dedicated to training. They were used to it anyways.
Mercury snatched the head of the dummy off from the ground, and tossed it with the rest of its remains in a loose pile. The thought tempted him to shove his foot through the wall to vent his frustration, but he decided against it. Barely.
He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. This whole day was starting to give him a migraine. He should have just ignored Emerald, he should never have commented on her finally leaving the room. Maybe then this whole mess could have been avoided.
It's not like it was even his fault, this time! What, was he just supposed to pretend he didn't notice that she had hidden herself away in their room all day? The one time he had bothered to actually make an effort to try acting friendly, or at least what he thought was being friendly, and look where it led him! Urgh. His head pounded.
He heard a knock on the door, and he nearly kicked his leg to shoot at the offending noise, before he caught himself. Good thing, too, as Terra peeked her head in before entering, closing the door behind her.
"You've…redecorated," She observed, glancing at the ruined dummy.
Mercury frowned. Shit, right. This is their house. Another headache, having to play nice. He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, uh, sorry. I'll clean that up in a bit." At least the Cotta-Arcs weren't as grating as the brats at Beacon.
Terra shook her head. "No, no, don't worry about it! I mean, it's not like we use this room, and I'm sure this isn't the first time you've broken a training dummy. Get to it on your own time."
His eyes narrowed. Terra was being…unusually polite, especially considering it's him. She sounded like her wife. "Then what's wrong?"
"Why does something have to be wrong?" She asked.
"You're being weirdly…nice, for some reason." He answered, still on guard. "You normally don't trust me." Which, to be fair, was both a very reasonable and very wise decision on her part.
Terra rolled her eyes. "Well, excuse me for being a little wary. It's not every day I get kidnapped, you know."
"Coerced," He corrected. 'I coerced you. There was no kidnapping whatsoever." He crossed his arms. "And that's not the point. You're acting strange. Why?"
She shrugged. "To be perfectly honest, I came here to ask you what was wrong, not answer the same question for myself."
Oh great. The pieces were starting to come together. He sighed. "And why would you think something would be wrong?" He already knew the answer. He just needed to hear it.
"Because Emerald looks like she just murdered a baby rabbit," Mercury winced. There it is. "Seriously, I don't know what happened, but whatever it was, It clearly bothered you if this-" She gestured to the floor, at the ruined dummy. "-Is anything to go by. And it was enough to send Emerald in tears. Whatever happened, she blames herself. So, what's wrong?"
"Everything's fine," He said on reflex. It wasn't any of her business.
Terra frowned, before sighing. "You know, whenever I tried using that excuse, Saphron would just follow me around like a lost puppy, badgering me and trying to get an answer out until I broke."
He let out a short laugh. "Trust me, we're nothing like you two." About as far as you could get, actually.
"I'm not so sure about that," Terra hummed. "I've seen the way the two of you act. I think I have at least a decent idea about you both."
"You understand a hell of a lot less than you think you do," He snarled.
"And you're getting awfully upset for someone who's supposed to be just fine," She countered. He blinked. Damn, she's good. Her expression softened. "Look, whatever you two are, partners, friends, whatever, it's clear you both matter a lot to each other. And after what the two of you have been through, it's clear you probably need each other, too. So whatever it is she said, think about whether it's worth making her feel the way she does right now." She looked almost mournful, now. "I almost lost Saph like that, once."
He wasn't sure what to say, exactly. His headache had receded, and he nodded. "Yeah, sure, I gotcha."
Terra didn't seem convinced, but she turned to leave. "This is supposed to be a second chance for the two of you. And if you ask me, I don't think either of you are getting anywhere without the other. Good luck, Mercury." The door closed, leaving him in the empty room.
He felt a pit in his stomach, as he tried to sort the thoughts flying around in his head. One stuck out above the rest. She's blaming herself for our argument. He scoffed. Of course she was. She always managed to find a way for something to be her fault.
But why feel so bad about it? Terra made it out to seem like Emerald was in the middle of a panic attack over a simple argument. They'd argued plenty of times before! Sure, he was a little annoyed that she'd insinuate he only bothered helping her because they ended up stuck together, but so what? He'd get over it.
But she wouldn't. He knew for a fact that she wouldn't. It just wasn't in her nature. He had been like her, once, but that was back when he still had his legs. Back when he still had a semblance. Back when I was still whole.
Emerald wasn't like that, not yet. And annoyed or no, he still hated the idea of her being upset, especially over him. He grimaced. Staying here was supposed to make her happy, that was why he had agreed to it in the first place. He couldn't leave things the way they were.
He took a few minutes to compose himself, before leaving for their room, where he knew he'd find her. Sure enough, when he tried the door, it was locked. He took a deep breath, and knocked twice, quickly. "Em, It's me, open up."
No answer. He almost wondered whether he should just leave her alone for a while? Whenever he was angry, a bit of solitude was usually enough to get him to cool off. Nah, he decided. That might work for him, he was never very comfortable around anyone other than Emerald, and even then sometimes he needed a break. But Em? There wasn't anything she loathed more than loneliness. Leaving her to stew now wouldn't do anything but upset her even more.
He knocked again. Still no answer. He sighed, and knocked a third time. "If you don't open the door, I will. Violently."
"Bullshit," A muffled voice called from behind the door. Her voice was hoarse, presumably from crying. "You wouldn't dare, not here."
Mercury cracked a grin. At least she answered. "You wanna put money on that, Em? Or did you forget just who it is you're talking to?"
Silence followed his question, and his grin widened. A few seconds later, he heard the clicking of a lock, and the door opened.
His smile faltered. Emerald was a wreck. Her eyes were red, and she seemed tense, almost like she was waiting for something awful to happen. It reminded him of how she used to act around Cinder. He didn't like it.
He tried playing it off like he didn't notice, to put her at ease. "There you go! Honestly, you should know me better by now than to think for a second that I wouldn't kick the door in."
Emerald didn't say a word as he pushed himself inside, laying down on the couch he used as a bed. He frowned. Dancing around the elephant in the room isn't gonna solve anything. "Look, exactly what is it you're beating yourself up about?" He asked bluntly.
She winced. "Mercury, I'm sorry, I know I-"
"Sorry for what?" He interrupted. "We had an argument, Em, it happens. The world isn't gonna come crashing down, and I'm not gonna skip town over it."
"I know that!" She snapped, but even as she spoke, he saw her shoulders relax. Which meant that was exactly what she thought would happen. When is she gonna realize I'm not going anywhere anytime soon?
"So what's bothering you?" He asked instead.
She bit her lip. "I just thought you'd be…more upset."
Mercury laughed. "Over what? A stupid argument?" No reaction. Hmm. Then maybe…"Over me telling you about my past?" She nodded shyly, and he snorted. "Em, I don't give a damn about telling you that. I could care less about telling anyone about it, let alone you. So, there. No reason to feel bad." He hoped that settled it.
And it did, for all of three minutes, when Emerald finally broke the silence, quietly speaking up. "I asked you if we were only friends because we ended up stuck together."
He rolled his eyes. "Em, I told you, it doesn't matter. I was annoyed, sure, but-"
"Just shut up and listen!" She hissed, and he closed his mouth in surprise. "I-I asked you that, because I wanted to know if you felt the same way I do."
Mercury sighed. "I already told you, we're friends, Em. That's not gonna change."
"And that's not what I meant," Emerald said. He frowned. She looked down. "It was just something stupid that Saphron said, and I couldn't get it out of my head," She sniffed, rubbing her eyes. "She was talking about how cute we would look together, and I told her she had the wrong idea." She swallowed. She was stammering now, struggling to get her words out. "But afterwards, I started thinking about it. I-I-I never really gave much thought t-to stuff like that. I just didn't want to be alone, that's all. But I thought about everything we've been through, and everything we've done for each other, a-and I couldn't stop thinking about what if we were something else?"
She bit her lip again, her eyes staring down at the floor. "And then I wanted us to be something else."
His eyes widened at her confession. I…wasn't expecting that. Although, everything now made a lot more sense. Why she was avoiding them, and more specifically, him, why she would ask in the first place, why she seemed so affected by their argument.
And why she was such a mess. I have to fix this. But…how? This wasn't exactly his forte. Give him someone to kill, or intimidate, give him something to fight. Sorting out Emerald's feelings? He was completely lost.
Besides, he wasn't even sure how he felt about the matter. He had never…his entire life, for as long as he could remember, his priority was fighting. Killing. Surviving. Fight better than the person you're trying to kill, and you get to live. The fact that he somehow found a friend in Emerald was already something he found hard to wrap around his head, he had never even thought about…anything else.
Mercury pushed it out of his mind, for the moment. He was good at that. He had something else, something more important. He might not be suited for it, but somebody had to reassure Emerald. Besides, what else are friends for, anyway?
"Em…" He sighed. "I don't really know how to help you right now. Brothers know I'm just about the worst person in the world to talk about feelings. But if you're worried about me being angry with you, don't be. Whatever…whatever it is you've said today, it won't change anything. I'm still your friend, I'm still sticking it out with you."
He saw her deflate. "So then you don't," She whispered
"I don't know!" He was getting so frustrated with all of this. Why did things have to change? Everything was fine, they had a rhythm going, and one little comment from Saphron sent everything spiraling. Except, it might have changed anyways. The truth was he wasn't sure how he felt about Emerald. "I have no idea, Em! I'm not even sure if I'd know if I did care about you like that, anyways. In case you couldn't tell from my little sob story, I'm not exactly used to giving a shit about people!"
He made an effort to lower his voice, and try to sound a little calmer. He knew how much she hated him yelling. "I meant what I said, earlier. I care about you, Em, a lot. And I'll be damned if I let anyone, Jadis, Cinder, even Salem lay a finger on you. But that's all I'm sure of. I don't…I'm not like you, I don't latch onto people easily." He said it without venom, not meaning it as an insult. "I've never had a chance to think about friends, let alone something more, so I just don't know what I feel. That's all it is."
He didn't want her thinking it was somehow her fault. She nodded glumly. "Okay," She croaked. "I'll stay in here, for a while. I'll just take a nap, and I'll be fine."
He frowned. And let you shut yourself in this room again, alone? Yeah, no way. He stretched his feet out, folding his hands behind his bed. "You know, I just got real tired myself. Funny how that works, huh?"
"Mercury…" Emerald groaned.
"What?" He asked innocently. "Would you like me to leave?"
There was no answer, as he knew there wouldn't be. She was glad he stayed, even if she didn't say it.
He closed his eyes, settling in. He thought of the absolute mess of a day they had had so far, and was glad it was at least resolved. He thought of Jadis, and how they'd have to keep an eye out for anything she might try to pull.
But most of all, he thought of Emerald. And for the first time in his life, he thought of what she wanted, about what the two of him could be. His own feelings, he couldn't make heads or tails of, but he put himself in her place, and wondered what it is that Emerald wanted.
And he wondered for a while, if he could want it too.
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Next Chapter: Tuesday, May 21st