The Thermostat Duo

Chapter 8

Mercury awakes to the smell of bacon and eggs being cooked.

"Great." He thinks. "So much for doing a nice thing for her."

He gets up and stretches. He looks down to where Celsius was sleeping and sees the sleeping bag and pillow are already back in the crate. He goes into the bathroom to get dressed and sees Celsius's clothes aren't there and the shower is wet. She must have already showered and dressed. Mercury grabs a thing of deodorant and puts it on, not wanting to smell, but not wanting to shower, and gets dressed. He fixes his hair a bit before walking back out. He sees the blanket and pillow he slept with are in the crate, and Celsius is sitting on the couch, watching tv, with two plates of food in front of her.

She looks at Mercury. "Good morning, sleeping beauty." She says.

"Morning, early bird." He says, sitting down next to her.

"Eat up, we have more driving to do today." Celsius says.

"Did you put gas in the car?" Mercury asks.

Celsius nods. "And I grabbed some more supplies. We are all ready to go." She says.

"You know, I can do stuff, too." Mercury says as he eats.

"I know, but I didn't feel like waiting for you to get up." Celsius says. "Plus, the area we are going to stop at next is notorious for having large amounts of Grimm. You need to be well rested in order to fight well and not die."

Mercury was probably overthinking, but it sounded like Celsius was worried about him. "Of course she is worried, you're her partner. She doesn't want to come back saying her partner is dead, and she doesn't want to carry out this mission alone." He thinks.

After they finish eating, Celsius cleans the dishes and puts them into a crate. Mercury has already put everything else into the car. Celsius puts the crate in the back of the car and opens the garage door. "Can you drive the car out? I'll close the door behind you." Celsius says to Mercury.

"Sure thing." He says, hopping into the drivers seat and starting the car. Celsius opens the garage door, and once the car is outside, she closes it.

"You wanna drive?" Celsius asks him, leaning against the car next to the drivers seat.

"I don't know where we are going, so maybe it's best if you drive." Mercury says, getting out of the car. He makes his way around to the passenger side and gets in. Celsius sits in the drivers seat and, when Mercury is in the car, she starts to drive.

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After driving for a few hours, Celsius and Mercury have started a game they call 'Why, When and How?' One of them says something, like 'eggs', and the other person must say and answer three questions that start with Why, When or How. For example, using 'eggs', Celsius would say "Why do I like them? They taste great. When do I like to eat them? In the morning for breakfast. How do I like them cooked? Scrambled."

"Okay, my turn." Celsius says. "Hmmm.... Your prosthetics."

"Saw that one coming." Mercury says. Celsius laughs, which makes him smile. "Why did I get them? My legs were badly injured after a fight with my dad, so my legs had to be amputated from the middle of my thigh down. When did I get them? I think I was 16... Can't recall. How do I use them for fighting? If I extend my leg out, it will shoot a bullet from the soul of my foot. That's why I wear these boots-so it looks like the bullets are coming out of the boots and not a fake leg." He says.

"Nice, nice." Celsius says.

"Okay.... The White Fang." Mercury says.

"Why did I join them? Didn't really have a choice. Roman found me after the bombings, took me back to their base, had me amputated, got me prosthetics, and trained me. I can't leave after they've done so much for me. Plus I've been told my prosthetics have a chip in them, and that the White Fang can see where I am at any given time." Celsius says.

"Damn." Mercury says.

"When did I become associated with them? I was around 14-15. How do I plan to advance in not only my fighting skills but in ranks? By kicking ass." Celsius says.

Mercury laughs. "You know, I really didn't want a partner, but you're the best partner I could have gotten."

Celsius smiles. She's been trying very hard to be friendly with Mercury since she realized how much of an asshole she was to him when they first met. Plus, if he was gonna be her partner for the rest of her time as an active white fang member, she wanted to be friends with him, not enemies.

"Thanks. Same goes to you."