Mercury furrowed his brows as his scroll began to vibrate in his pocket. Though the initial sight of a towel-wrapped and otherwise naked faunus in Weiss' suite was at least initially amusing, he had completely lost interest in the conversation with Marrow soon after. The overall vibe that Marrow gave off was far too mushy, happy, and sickeningly wholesome for him, and so he welcomed the distraction of the call… at least, until he saw who it was on the line.

"…shit," Mercury cursed softly to himself as he stood up and began walking to the other end of the trailer. "Shit, shit, shit…"

The temptation to simply ignore the call was strong… and had he still felt the same way as he did the last time he had spoken to Emerald, he would have. Everything had changed so quickly and unexpectedly that he had no plan as to what to say. Mercury had never been one to plan anyway, but for once… going in with nothing scripted felt terrifying rather than liberating. Somehow, the conversation mattered more than most. With a shaky thumb, Mercury connected the call and took a deep breath.

"…Em?"

"…Em," the girl repeated, her tone less inquisitive and much icier than his. "All these months apart after the way our last conversation went and you hit me with 'Em?' Are you serious, Mercury?"

"I was wrong," Mercury said immediately, not quite trusting himself. He didn't trust his judgment, he didn't trust his ability to keep telling the truth if he stopped and thought about what he was saying, and he certainly didn't trust his ego to remain in check if he slowed down. All that was left was to keep talking at the speed of his thoughts. "I was wrong about everything, and I'm sorry. The shit I've seen in Sanus… it woke me up. I lashed out at you because staying with Salem was easy. It felt safe. Salem seemed like she had a plan and knew she was going to win. It still feels that way… but the safety's gone entirely. I got out, and I wish I could've taken you with me."

Emerald was silent for a long time. The tension made Mercury uncomfortable enough to look over his shoulder and check that the rest of the crew was still distracted by Marrow. Fortunately for him, they seemed to be having a great time as Weiss had appeared onscreen again, looking incredibly embarrassed. The sight only served to make Mercury feel even lonelier, though he would never admit it.

"A while ago, I would've given you hell for what you said to me back in the citadel," Emerald admitted. "But after everything I've seen out here in Solitas, and the… I guess the friends I'm starting to make? It just doesn't seem all that important anymore. I'd rather just hear that you're safe and free of that witch."

"I am," Mercury reassured. "In a sense, anyway. I'm still technically a prisoner of Beacon. I turned myself in. Got half a mind to just sit out the rest of this stupid war in a cell."

"That I wouldn't forgive you for," Emerald warned. "Step up and try to fix this problem we helped cause, or you and I are through. There are people out there worth fighting for, Mercury. If you don't have any… find some. These hero types seem to be pretty forgiving if you admit you fucked up. They've accepted me with open arms for the most part, and one of them… we've got something going on. I don't know what exactly, but it feels… new. And safe."

"I don't change as quickly as you do," Mercury reminded. "I don't know what I'm doing with this crowd."

"You think I do?" Emerald asked rhetorically. "I didn't even mean to defect. I just got caught up in things that made too much sense to ignore, and… my life has changed entirely. Cinnamon talked me into switching teams and we've been fighting our asses off ever since."

"Yeah, sure, but are things actually better now?" Mercury asked as he leaned back against the wall of the trailer. "I might've changed sides, too, but… we can't beat her. You and I both know that. Not with that massive army of grimm and her ability to come back from being atomized. This is all hopeless and we're both stupid for believing we could ever have something better. We definitely don't deserve it."

"You don't believe that. Otherwise, you wouldn't have done what you did. I know you, Merc. You're cold and logical. What's logical about switching sides if you still think Salem will win this? There's got to be some spark of hope buried deep in that thick skull of yours. There's one in mine, now… and I'm not going to let it die. Not after seeing how life could be if we actually win this…"

"Salem was going to kill me eventually, and she was going to kill you, too," Mercury replied. "I could feel it coming. She almost killed Neo. Hazel's starting to doubt her. Salem doesn't tolerate insubordination. I had to get out, there's nothing more to it."

"Only to get killed later? Come on, Mercury. Be honest with yourself. Why are you doing this?"

Once again, Mercury felt uneasy. It was a sensation he was getting disturbingly used to… and also the only real answer he could provide. He knew it wasn't sufficient justification both to Emerald and in his own mind. There had to be something more… or at least, he hoped there was something more. Something other than the lingering thought in the back of his mind that he refused to say out loud despite his commitment to being honest with Emerald only minutes prior.

"…I don't know," Mercury evaded. "I really don't know. Things just felt… off."

Another pause. Another wash of guilt.

"I don't believe that. You always talk with so much conviction, even about causes you don't seem to care about. We've argued for over an hour about the dumbest shit, and you would always get so heated and insistent. Why do you sound so hollow now, when it's something that really matters?"

"Because I don't know," Mercury protested, getting angry. "Survival. Whatever you want to call it. That's why I did what I did."

"Was it out of fear?"

"I'm not that weak," Mercury hissed, gripping the sides of his scroll tightly enough that he could feel the material of its casing creak. "I'm not afraid."

"Well, I am… and it isn't a weakness," Emerald scolded. "There's plenty of reason to b-"

"I'm not scared!" Mercury insisted, suddenly realizing just how childish he sounded. He could feel the eyes on his back from the group in the trailer, and the sensation only made him angrier. "I've been through worse than this."

"No, you haven't," Emerald denied. "None of us have. Stop acting like a child and just admit th-"

Mercury ended the call before he was fully aware of what he was doing. His heart skipped a beat as he stared at the blank screen of his scroll, and his stomach lurched. The vain, stupid hope that Emerald would call him back immediately and he could pass it off as a simple mistake or faulty connection was dying by the second… but he was too proud to reconnect the line on his own. All he could do was stare, wait, and hold his breath.

"Bad move," Roman called from behind Mercury. "Call her back before you end up in deep shit. By the way… were you two fuckin' back in the day? I definitely got that vibe…"

"No, we…" Mercury began as he turned around to face Roman. "…it wasn't like that. None of your business anyway."

The rest of the group was still huddled around the scroll on the floor, chatting away with Weiss and Marrow. They all looked so happy despite the circumstances at hand. Mercury simply couldn't understand it. Roman moved closer to Mercury, seemingly bored with the spectacle.

"Huh. Could've sworn I say you making eyes at her a few times. Call her. I'll cover for you."

"Why?" Mercury asked as he tried to reconnect the call. "Not like you and I ever really got along."

"Maybe not, but it looks to me like you've got nobody right now," Roman pointed out as he watched Mercury hold the scroll back up to his ear. "If you're actually gonna commit to fighting alongside us, we can't have you moping and sulking in a corner. Gotta be on your A-game. Takes a big dick to admit you were being an asshole to someone you care about, ya know."

"…since when are you the wise man? I thought all you cared about was money," Mercury grumbled as the call went to voice mail. "Shit…"

"You don't know me," Roman asserted. "Keep trying throughout the afternoon. You dug this hole. Gonna take some effort to climb out of it."

"Great," Mercury deadpanned as he tried once again. "Just what I needed…"

"…obstinate, immature, cowardly son of a bitch!" Emerald finished, absolutely fuming as she powered off her scroll.

She knew that doing so was a risky move while so many of the group might try to contact her, but for at least a few minutes, she needed to be free of Mercury. The thought of him alone was enough to keep her rage burning, and it took all of her power not to simply hurl the device into a nearby snowbank or the side of a building. Emerald settled for simply squeezing her scroll as tightly as she could in her hand until the flesh turned pale. She could see her own furious reflection in the blank screen… and so could the man behind her.

"…you good?"

"What do you think?" Emerald snapped as she lowered the device, not bothering to look at Moss as he approached.

"I think someone's probably being an asshole, and isn't you," the man answered as he joined Emerald's side. "You seemed pretty level-headed yesterday. Not the type to have a fit out of nowhere."

"I'm usually not," Emerald confirmed as she pocketed the device and looked over at Moss. Curiously in her eyes, they stood at almost the same height. "I had a… friend back when I ran with Salem. Or at least, I thought he was a friend. We had a big fight about the future, got separated before the invasion of Mantle, and now… we're still separated and he won't open up and admit that what he said to me was shortsighted and just… wrong. It's making me want to smash his goddamned face in."

"I've got a friend I'd like to beat the shit out of sometimes," Moss said with a smirk. "You'll probably meet him soon. People are stupid and proud and it sucks. Anything I can do?"

"Just… don't be that," Emerald said with a shrug. "I don't know. I just need some time to cool down, and hopefully he comes around later. Then again, he's never come around before…"

"Then why are you friends?" Moss asked gesturing for Emerald to follow her. "You and Ilia were exploring around the Cradle, right?"

"Yeah," Emerald confirmed as she began to walk. "And… I don't really want to get into that right now, or the details of what he said. Let's just leave it at we both needed an anchor while on the other team and we worked together a lot. Something developed between us out of necessity, but… maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was just convenience and to stay sane. Nothing more."

"Don't burn a bridge over one call," Moss advised. "Well… one call and one fight. Give it some time to cool off. If he's still a dickhead later… then you can consider next steps. People suck sometimes."

"Yeah, they do," Emerald agreed. "Where are we going?"

"I gotta check in on Shiv," Moss let on. "We've got a project going and it's best not to leave him alone with it."

"Why's that?" Emerald asked.

"Because then it's pretty likely he'll find all of the stupid, unapproved modifications I made to it while he was out of the warehouse," Moss answered with a grin. "I'm a 'better to ask forgiveness than permission' kind of guy."

"You and me both," Emerald said, sounding more amused than upset. "Sometimes I just… do things, before I even think about why or whether or not I can get away with it."

"I know that feeling," Moss replied. "You're gonna fit right in, here. Shiv's going to hate you, and it's gonna be great."

Author's Note:

For the week of 9/25. Next time- Ironwood.

-RD