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[Yang's serious face flashes onto the screen, her arms loosely folded over her chest. One hand comes up to gesture as she begins.]

So I'm just going to get straight to the point for this: I need some sparring partners. And I don't just mean people who are good at punching and kicking, I mean someone who can test me and push my limits.

[She shakes her head with a small frown.]

I just... I need to be better. More controlled, more thoughtful. So whatever you're good at, weaponry, magic, super powers -- I'm interested. Maybe I'll give you a run for your money too.

...And if you're any good at dealing with enchanters or illusionists, send me a private line. There's a bounty that's giving me more trouble than he's worth, and I could use some tips, or back-up.

[Not something she likes admitting, especially for a one-star bounty, but that's how things stand.]

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That is literally the most detail I can go into because I tuned out the second someone went on about it since it was completely irrelevant to me beyond "power of love crap." It involves something like someone you love deeply has to be able to reach you emotionally and that can reignite it or.. something.

[ Emerald sounds like she legitimately doesn't really get it. ]

Merc's awful with his emotions though, so you'd probably just kill each other while he tried.

...And you're saying you love me deeply, or that you're actually okay with me sucking up some of your emotions?

[She is enjoying this way too much. She won't argue that Mercury isn't great with emotions, because he ain't. Emerald isn't really much better, though, as far as Yang knows.]

Won't that key me in on your real feelings about stuff?

What? No. The split thing has nothing to do with the love thing. Supposedly there's no split or drain during that, so it's the fastest recovery option but it's the riskiest.

What's the worst you'd find? That I'm really angry at everything or that I think Merc is important? I'm literally offering to split my emotions with you because I don't want to risk him getting punched to death by his psycho emotionally-drained bimbo, it isn't like there's much to hide.

[ Maybe the self-loathing and ] I mean, you might get a strong sense of loyalty and a little gratitude toward Cinder on you.

That's the only risk? Mercury's still better than me in a fight, I don't think you'd have to worry. Besides, that's a risk you'd be taking yourself. I don't think he'd be thrilled if I hurt you either, and I can't say I'd feel great about it.

[She doesn't like keeping any secrets from Mercury, whether it's for his own good or not.]

Maybe the next time all three of us are together, we can talk about emergency plans, just in case something like that happens to one of us.

[Yang's a little surprised that Emerald mentioned Cinder. She knows next to nothing about her past or how she got involved. She's only heard Mercury's story so far (and an incomplete version at that).]

How did you get involved with someone like her? What did she offer you?

I can handle myself around you and I don't mind hurting you- he'd beat himself up about it. [ She doesn't mind him being mad at her for a while. They've been mad at each other plenty of times. ]

I just gave you an emergency plan.

[ It takes her a moment to answer that. She isn't exactly wanting to open up to Yang- the person she had opened up to about what she agreed to seemed appalled by it. Desperation that deep to agree to the promise of not going hungry again? That's something you don't share with the world. But she's not going to deny that she owes everything to her. ]

Everything I have in my life I have because of Cinder. Including Mercury.

Uh...you sure about that? I mean, we spar all the time, he knows I can take a lot of punishment.

[There's the Attleton incident, but that had way more factors involved, like beating up Emerald too, and basically swimming in his father's twisted mind the whole time.]

I just want to make sure he's okay with it. If you're both on board, then I'm fine with whatever needs to happen.

[To be honest, she didn't think she'd get an answer. But she also knows she wouldn't get one if she just waited around for Emerald to bring up her past, so she just went for it and asked. She doesn't seem mad. Thoughtful, maybe, and quiet as she mulls it over. Everything.]

So...I guess...you didn't have much to begin with before you met, huh. Your family...?

[It's a conclusion she makes soberly, dropping her hands from her chin to rest on her crossed ankles.]

I mean like, really hurt you. Not just rough you up.

[ She rolls her eyes. ]

Fine.

[ How much should she tell her? She settles on not a lot. The idea that Emerald had family was almost laughable to her at this point. ]

I had me. If you're looking for some supervillain backstory that's going to make you feel like you kind of understand why I might kill someone, you're not going to find it. All Cinder promised me was that I wouldn't go hungry again.

[Maybe Yang would be mad about that if it was all she had to go on. But she's heard Mercury's side of the story too. Cinder likely didn't walk up to Emerald and offer her free sandwiches in exchange for mass murder. It was likely a much slower process than that, especially since it had taken time for Cinder's plans to be laid out. Plans that probably started out small, and mostly harmless, that gradually got worse and worse. Mercury had said he hadn't known just how far it would go until he was neck-deep in plots, and by that point he was in too deep for second thoughts. So if she had to guess, Emerald went through the same process.]

You're not a supervillain, Emerald. It just sounds like she was the first person to care about you. She took away your loneliness, and that kind of thing... I'm not gonna say I went through a similar situation, because it wasn't even close. But I know it hurts, and I know it sucks. So I kinda understand a little better now.

[She'll have to think about how that might wind up affecting someone. Plus there's the whole aftermath thing too. Did Cinder really care? Or was she just using them? If it was the latter, Yang would probably be pissed off too if she were in that situation. Then there's probably the distrust of other people who might do the same...]

[Yeah, she's finally starting to get why Emerald was so obnoxiously mean for so long.]

Don't try to pretend you understand just because you feel bad, Yang. The worst kind of person is the one who confuses sympathy for empathy.

[ Emerald didn't sign up not knowing what she was getting into. She said thank you, and Cinder told her what the stakes were- she explained everything to her, about Salem and magic, the whole shebang. It had sounded impossible, like a tale of lunacy, but she stuck around. She could've bailed the second Cinder said they were going to go pick up Marcus Black if she'd really wanted to. It wouldn't have been hard, it was long before she'd even gotten half of the Fall Maiden's powers and Emerald could disappear if she concentrated. She chose to be there, and she chose to stay. She doesn't need Yang feeling like she understands why she might go on a murder spree because she knows she was a street rat. ]

Really. The very worst, huh? I'm a monster.

[She rolls her eyes and props her cheek up on her metal hand.]

Look, I'm not gonna say I get all of it. I'm only going to understand about as much as you're willing to tell me, so that part's up to you. But I've got issues with loneliness too, and if I grew up in your position? ...I'd probably turn out the same, if not worse.

[She doesn't look happy to be admitting that, and it shows in the furrow of her brow and the heaviness of her frown as she turns her gaze to one of Mikaela's car posters.]

The point is, I don't think you're as bad as you think you are. You and Mercury were put in the worst kind of situation, but you pushed through it. Survived. Even managed to come out of it as a pretty decent person. We might not like each other much, but. I can respect what you're doing, and working to be.

I'm not lonely, and you're not me. Stop trying to pretend you are or that you understand anything.

[ Yeah, she's hanging up now. Sorry, Yang, she really doesn't like what you're trying to do here. ]

Uch.

[What the hell? Yang's expression goes flat after the hang-up, and she tosses the communicator carelessly on the bed. So much for that.]

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