Chapter Text
"Here I thought I was the only one around here who has issues with sleeping" Mercury starts off "[well you would be if I wasn't around]" "Maybe but now that I think about it I feel like these guys on ground would count" "[I would hardly count these guys it's their job plus some are nocturnal due to their faunus side]" "Guess you got a point. So what are you doing awake?" "[Would you believe me if I said I'm somewhat of a night person myself]" "Yeah I guess I could believe it" "[What about you? Why are you awake?]" "My old life forced me to be a night person regardless if I wanted to or not" "[damn sounds deep]" "Yeah I guess it does"
Out of nowhere Mercury gets one of his most wildest ideas he's ever had "Hey wanna go on a walk with me?" "[Oh is this Mercury Black asking little ol' me on a date😉]" all it took was a solid five seconds for Mercury's brain to register what Neo's text meant "WAIT NO THAT'S NOT WHAT I ME- I mean you are cool and fun it's just I uh-" before Mercury could finish that thought he gets elbowed by Neo who is barely holding in her laughter "*sigh* Whatever just forget I asked" before he could turn around and walk away Neo catches his wrist and waves her scroll in his face "[Hey now don't walk away I was just messing with you. Yes I would like to go on a walk with you]" "...Right yeah I knew you were just joking around" 'Nice save idiot' Mercury inwardly thinks to himself "[Uh huh sure whatever makes you feel better lol]" "OK ok if you're done having fun at my expense I would like to go" "[Yeah ok I'm done let's go. Oh and for the record I think you're cool and fun too😊]" at that message Mercury tries and fails to hide the rising heat in his cheeks and it does not go unnoticed by Neo who will be saving this moment for later
"[So where exactly are we taking a walk?]" "Oh right I forgot to mention where, I was thinking downtown that sounds cool with you?" "[Yeah I'm cool with that 😎]" "Alright we can take the bullhead there" thirty minutes later they arrived downtown deciding that they should keep on walking until they made it to the park. As they're walking Mercury notices Neo typing something on her scroll "[So why are you up]" "I could ask you the same thing seeing that room filled with all the injured white fang" "[Too much energy couldn't sleep needed to release it into some constructive]" "And beating up the white is constructive?" "[Hey I get a workout and some entertainment and they get a decent learning experience]" "How is that a learning experience?" "[They realize that they suck in fights and that they need to get better combat experience so they don't put out of the fight so soon when fighting someone with real experiences]" "Wow ok that actually makes a whole lot of sense when you put it like that" "[Yuh huh now answer my question]" she elbows "Alright alright I'll your question no need to be so pushy about it. I had trouble sleeping and what I usually do is go train to help pass the time until I can eventually finally sleep again" "[Usually? So this happens often?]" "Yeah Almost every night basically. Not much I can do about it" "And YOU know exactly why you can't sleep normally anymore Mercy you're just too afraid to tell the pretty girl" Mercury is having a really hard time keeping a calm collected face especially with Marcus talking in the background "What I don't understand is why you've taken a particular liking to this girl. She can't speak? Just sounds like damaged goods to me. Better to just put them down already than let them be a hindrance to you" Mercury instantly felt bile in his throat from the response he got from Marcus. He focused whatever willpower he had to Marcus voice in the far reaches at the back of his mind. That thought will haunt him for a while "[Why is that?]" "Hhhmm? Oh you mean why I can't sleep. It's because I have night terrors. It's mostly about the past" "[Oh I see...]" "Yeah not a fun subject, but enough about my tragic past we're at the park" The park is a pretty decent size for one. Mercury and Neo see a children's play area along with a swing set by it. "[C'mon we can talk about something else other than your past over there on the swing set]" Neo grabs Mercury's hand and practically drags him over there but for some reason he's not opposed to it