#sorry this turned into an ‘oh and quartz of course’ post | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

semimedieval · 9 months

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in which we continue to pretend this writeup is helping me brainstorm 3.0 instead of well probably distracting me from it

in other words: lupus and ky break up, and glimmers of larger-scale narrative value are improbably contained within said very stupid plotline

first off: normal exchanges to have the morning you break up (for less than a day)

Ky wanted to stay underneath the covers, the morning air was cold, colder than usual. "Do you want my spare jacket?" Lupus asked, pausing above her. "Sure." She replied. For a moment warm happiness replaced the cold. She loved Lupus, kind and considerate. He handed it to her with a grin, then went to help Obsidian heat up the oatmeal.

then, believe it or not, obsidian and lupus are deeply cruel to each other for no reason, no reason at fucking all. i'm not going to paste in that dialogue cause it's devastatingly embarrassing

wait JK i thought their sniping at each other over the oatmeal was just the precursor to a bigger and more interesting fight but this is literally all we get before Just so you know, Lupus hissed. "Don't you dare complain to anyone about me. I never did anything to you," he continued. "I don't know why you hate me so much." That's Lupus, he's always the victim! whispered Obsidian. "Poor Loopy Lupus who has bad dweams at night."

OBSIDIAN IS BEING SIGNIFICANTLY MORE CRUEL THAN LUPUS HERE. We find out that lupus glares at obsidian whenever he "so much as looks at" ky, which has never been established before ever i'm not positive that ky and obsidian have even spoken onpage before the previous night. anyway lupus and obsidian share a bedroom so presumably the bad dreams are something obsidian knows about and is taking the opportunity to make fun of? OBSIDIAN, *YOU* HAVE BAD DREAMS! THEY WERE DESCRIBED TO US IN DETAIL LIKE 30 PAGES AGO!

Ky felt sadness grab her heart. She hated it when they fought. "Obsidian! LUPUS!" Chuji yelled "STOP!" They looked around. "Sorry," muttered Obsidian. Lupus said nothing, just smiled at the girls and turned his back on Obsidian haughtily. Ky's sadness turned to anger. "I agree. This is taking it too far." Quartz stood up and stood with the girls. "Third the motion. Obsidian, you should know better."

shoutout to quartz and chuji for correctly identifying that obsidian is equally if not more to blame for this complete nonsense. chuji runs off into the woods and starts setting fire to things which is a fair response to your boyfriend being an utter dipshit at least it is if you are sixteen years old.

ky of course says -

Ky spun around and ran, the opposite way of Chuji. "And Lupus," she called. "We're over!"

after all these posts being like "oh they're about to break up! the next post is the infamous lupus and ky breakup!" it happening this quickly when it does happen is catching me way off guard.

Lupus's heart seemed to stop, and he leaned on the table. 'We're over,' she had said. His heart was beating way too quickly. 'This is all your fault' he wanted to scream at Obsidian, but he knew this was what had lost him Ky in the first place.

both lupus's reaction to ky kissing him and to her breaking up with him are so unusually physically and emotionally detailed for posts on adventures of the extranei element powers rpg. the material reality jars you and makes it very hard to hate him.

Lupus ran north and Obsidian ran south, while Ky and Chuji had gone east and west. (sorry, I had to do that for comic effect) Only Quartz and Spark were left in the clearing. Chuji came out of the trees, her face blank "Holy ----." "Hello, Chuji," said Quartz, keeping her voice steady. "Ky's dumped Lupus and ran off because he was being a jerk and she felt betrayed, Lupus ran off because of that, and Obsidian ran off because he felt that it was his fault alone that the three of you were unhappy."

Quartz's theories that heterosexual love makes you crazy and evil are not getting disproved anytime soon it seems. I remember my 'four directions' bit vividly, and I do think it's a very funny adaptation that in 2.0 Obsidian and Chuji came out of the woods together and were like "we didn't like, actually run off very far from each other.

also, needless to say, let chuji say fuck.

Lupus collapsed on the ground, practically hyperventilating. This couldn't be happening... Only this morning, as he gave Ky his jacket, he had been so happy. Where had this hatred led him? He realized that being nice to Ky wasn't all of it, it was being an all-around good person. Monoceros had been nice to Loop's mother, hadn't he? "And Lupus, we're over" - the words echoed in his head, Ky wished Lupus could just be the old Lupus again, the one who laughed and smiled. Had she really just broken up with him? She felt tears well up, but pushed them back. This was not her Lupus. As much as she hated him at the moment Ky wished Lupus were here to comfort her.

they are so. i think if anything the utility of this breakup is not that there should BE a breakup in 3.0 (a fight, perhaps, in 3.6 or 3.7?) but that it correctly demonstrates what i have known all along, which is that lupus when he thinks is leaving ky is not calm and collected and regretful, he is screaming and crying and throwing up.

"Seriously, people!" Obsidian exclaimed. "Rim is in danger, and we still need to bring back Tozi. I'll go get Ky, Chuji gets Lupus."

Big words from someone who is kind of directly responsible for this but i'm glad SOMEONE'S thinking about the perils of going full soap opera mode. Not helping to convince me that This Is All Lupus's Fault For Sure is spark's narration.

Spark wanted to take Lupus's side, what with all her friends ganging up on him, but she just couldn't. Lupus had been wrong. Granted, Obsidian had done his part to make matters worse, but the real culprit was Lupus.

WAS HE????? cause the most aggressive thing HE did was throw a silly little snowball.

i was excited to read the "chuji gets lupus, obsidian gets ky" sequences because a) obsidian/ky is a secretly viable ship and i enjoy their interactions, and b) i didn't write them into 2.0 because i knew there had to be reasonable limits as to how much quartz could overhear or insert herself into. so this is something i haven't read since at the latest 2018 but perhaps as far back as 2016.

First, Chuji and Lupus:

She softly walked towards lupus. She crouched next to him "Hey." she said softly Yes? he asked blankly. "It's cool, If you wanna be grouchy be so." She placed an arm around him. "Don't be foolish, She's overreacting. Walk up to her, heck kiss her without warning." "There's more to it than that. But thanks for being so kind Chuji. I feel like everyone hates me. And now I've got to go apologize to Obsidian." He stood up shakily and walked with her back to camp. Her arm slipped off his shoulder "I had problems with Obsidian. I usually felt as though he was lost and selfish, but inside him, there's light. Ky needs to see your fire, not your ice."

"Walk up to her and kiss her without warning" is the worst possible advice you could give in this situation, and my dear sweet "no amount of anime will convince me consent is optional" 12 year old self (you are so cool <3) knew it too. lupus does do this (though at a point where ky is clearly in the mood again i would think, she's like hugging him or something we'll see) but partly because jack replied to my comment saying "YES! YES! THAT SHOULD HAPPEN XD"

fucked up ideas about how relationships work aside, chuji is kind of on the money here. i respect her for being the only person in the whole friend group who is being nice to lupus because boy does he need someone to be nice to him right now.

Next, Obsidian and Ky:

Ky used her powers to make a light based Lupus, laughing and reaching out to hold her. She extended her arms, but fell through the figure, on the ground, straight on her face. She sat up and watched the light slowly diminish. Was this what his heart would do in the end? Disappear from her grasp? Obsidian came up behind Ky. "We have to save Rim and Tozi," he said softly. "Um, Ky?" he added, feeling like he'd witnessed something he shouldn't have. Ky followed him to the makeshift-camp, her cheeks still a bit pink from him seeing her with the Light-Lupus. "We'll just pretend that didn't happen," Obsidian winked.

No adjacent miracles of unusual emotional intimacy here, just silliness. The wink is weirdly casual and supports the Obsidian Is Mr. Steal Your Girl Theory, which is not actually a theory we want to support but it sure is a theory the text accidentally keeps supporting, not least through obsidian's accusation that lupus glares at him every time he hangs out with ky. which we've only seen obsidian do to talk shit about lupus, so-

anyway everyone comes back to the clearing they've been camping in (a clearing is one of those generic ur-settings in extranei and in all generic fantasy like it) and lupus apologizes to both obsidian and ky. i have been lupus's #1 defender in this story beat so far, but let the record show that this is kind of a shitty apology, not to mention a very confusing one.

"I'm sorry for being mean to Obsidian, Ky. I guess I'm selfish, because I saw it from a selfish point of view. I thought that if I was kind to you, that would be all I needed to keep you happy. Hate me if you want, but know that I still love you."

though the last line remains true to the last breakup and for a long time after it. i think it takes lupus a long time to figure out for sure that ky's not coming back, and a long time after that to know for certain that he doesn't want her back what with what has happened, and an even longer time (maybe never) for him to quit imagining alternate universes where she didn't leave.

not that i would know anything about that.

on the way to the headquarters, lupus and ky try to resolve things and fail miserably. she says "we should still break up" even though it's clearly making her miserable. lupus snaps at her defensively and she PHYSICALLY PUSHES HIM AND CRIES OUT "GET AWAY FROM ME" which is. man. sigh.

ky thinks t his, which i'm not sure is entirely true. it might be a case of RP Mind Reading, ky getting bad vibes from lupus's "how would i manipulate everyone?" internal monologue.

Why was she mad? For starters, he had been snappy at everyone in the group, yet treating her like a princess. His jokes were snide and cruel, and he seemed distant all the time.

meanwhile, we check in with lupus. who is very sad.

He didn't see the point in staying, even. He wanted to run away. He wanted his unicorn back... He wanted, he wanted. You want too much, an inner voice told him. You want too much, you're unfair, you're snappy. You only really trust one person in the group. You're a spoiled rich kid who's used to people falling at his feet and him getting everything he wanted. Stopping his self-pity, he looked at Ky. She seemed so miserable, and part of Lupus wanted dearly to comfort her. But they'd never be that way again. He'd ruined everything. He began to run again, turning his face away from Ky's so that she couldn't see it. Finally, he was about a quarter of a mile away from the group. 'She needs to see the fire in you,' he thought. But was there fire in him at all?

'spiral of insecure self-realization' is one of the easiest things to write compellingly but i can still really see my writing of people's internal monologues improving. i don't love the way "you want too much, you're a spoiled rich kid" is treated as Narrative Truth... this is the problem with an unclear backstory, was lupus doted on or was his father predictably evil as a father figure not just as a feudal lord? we don't know and we never get to find out. monoceros is not treated with enough nuance elsewhere for "he was a good father but a bad ruler nicky ii style" to really feel compelling. certainly in epng lupus is made out to be a bad father, though admittedly in an "overprotective" direction rather than an "actively cruel" one. the point is, lupus did not have a charmed life or a perfect childhood, and just because he has not had the same kinds of tragedies happen to him as obsidian, doesn't mean he is a "spoiled rich kid" the way, say, takiea in epng is a spoiled rich kid. he has textually said that a) his mother died and he misses her, and b) his father openly talked about hating magic users and it made him deeply afraid. he ran away for a reason!

i say all this partly because in lupus's apology to obsidian he says "You've experienced more tragedy than me," which is both deeply condescending and not a very fair way to compare lives or experiences. It is clearly what Obsidian believes, but that does not reflect well on Obsidian. And my experiences with grief are limited and less insane than those of these fictional teens, but it would be roughly like Gabe telling Liam "nothing bad has ever happened to you because you grew up upper middle class!" or me telling Gabe "you've only lost grandparents, not closeish personal friends and mentors!" Or if Jane responded to any personal problem that E or Gabe or I had with "well at least your dad's not dead." All immensely cruel and insane things that it's impossible to imagine saying as a real person in real life. It's hard to conceptualize when you're 12 or 15 and your life has been fairly free of permanent loss, but grief tends to make you more compassionate towards the losses of others and not eager to compare them, at least it's so once you're past the "being really mad at everyone who knew stephen less well than you and is writing shitty poetry about him" stage.

again, it's maybe possible to imagine people having this reaction to takiea in epng because she really HAS had somewhat of a charmed life - wealthy without attached dehumanizing responsibilities, adored by both parents, a rich life full of hobbies - but lupus's dad is evil, his mom is dead, and he has nobody in the world besides the extranei. so maybe i think the obsidian and quartz that i feel attached to in my head would not rewrite that history into something dunkable-on. just a thought.

i did not mean to spiral into writing Very Long Lupus Meta on the clock. they're about to reach the headquarters but as a final note about lupus, ky, obsidian, and the tangled conundrums thereof, let's check in on the followup between ky and obsidian.

Obsidian caught up with Ky. "Just yesterday, you were talking about defining points of personalities," he said lightly. "Things have changed. I guess you were right all along." Ky replied. But still, it just didn't feel right. There was a nagging feeling she should go run into Lupus's arms and tell him how sorry she was, for everything. Ky was utterly and helplessly confused. "I'm not so sure," Obsidian replied. "Perhaps you yourself were right all along." He laughed. "How our views have changed. Don't worry, if you don't feel right with him, don't hestitate to tell him so."

Hilarious attempt at 'hesitate'. How did I nearly win the class spelling bee twice again? Anyway, the underlying feelings of all this are unsalvageable, but I can see why I included it in 2.0 because it's too iconic to our RP memories not to be. It's a fascinating study, as all of the relationships in Extranei are, in How Our Preteen Selves Are Imagining Relationships As People Who Have Never Been In One. infinitely rife for biographical analysis. limitedly rife with material for a 23-year-old to reach into and cherry pick compelling things from. obsidian has spent 24 hours dunking on lupus mercilessly only to change his mind when this dunking turns out to have unpleasant consequences. sometimes this is a true thing that happens. good thing that, in this roleplay, consequences never last very long.

#og rp lb #rereads

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hrina · 3 years

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Be Sweet, Pt. I

PAIRING: Harry x Reader RATING: M (minors dni!) WORD COUNT: 6k

hey everyone! here's part one of my new enemies-to-lovers series :) this fic will be five parts in total, but i'm only posting the first part on tumblr. you'll be able to read the rest of it on patreon if you wanna sign up!

as always, reblogs and feedback are very much appreciated. i love hearing your thoughts! enjoy.

~*~

August 27th, 2021

“Who’s opening tomorrow?”

Ella scrubs a wet rag across the table closest to the door. You cast a furtive glance up at her, flipping absentmindedly through the jumble of papers on the counter in front of you. Nick’s messy scrawl catches your eye, and you pause, reading the haphazard comment written at the bottom of the page.

Customer requested a very specific shade of pink trim. See back for details.

You flip the order, scoffing at the Pantone strip taped to the other side. The square labelled Quartz Pink has been singled out, encircled in bright red. Jesus fucking Christ.

“Alice and Olly, I think,” you say, shoving the form to the bottom of the pile.

“That’s good,” Ella grunts, returning the napkin holder and the sugar dispenser back to their spots on the table. “And you’ll swing by sometime during the afternoon?”

“Yeah,” you say, drumming your fingers over the papers. “I’m gonna help Olly in the back. You know how much he hates dealing with fondant.”

“How could I forget?” Ella rolls her eyes, smiling to herself. You grimace when she tosses the damp cloth in your direction. It lands on the counter with a loud splat! You nudge it away with your elbow, shaking your head.

“Gross.”

“You’re gross,” Ella says.

“I’m lovely,” you reply. She grins.

“Where’s Alex taking you tonight?” you ask, changing the subject. Her eyes light up instantly, and she clasps her hands together against her chest.

“It’s a surprise,” she says, giggling girlishly.

You groan. “I hate surprises.”

“It’s a good thing he’s not your boyfriend, then, isn’t it?” she retorts. You snicker, and she continues: “He told me we should stop off at home to change, though, so I’m guessing that wherever it is, there’s a dress code.”

“Ooh, fancy.”

“Right?” She twists her wrist, peeking at her watch. “He should have been here by now. It’s already a quarter past seven.”

“The hospital is just down the street,” you remind her, organising the mountain of orders into a neat stack. “Give him another five minutes.”

She nods. You spin on your heel and push through the door leading to the backroom of the bakery. The large space is split into two sections: on your right, there’s a wall of ovens, and a cluster of metal racks filled with pale, unprocessed dough. On your left, tables and counters lined with all sorts of decorating necessities—piping bags, spatulas, scrapers, turntables. You make your way toward the small cabinet perched against the nearest wall and pull out the top drawer, sliding the orders inside. Olly should have no trouble locating them tomorrow morning.

When you return to the front of the shop, Ella is locked in a passionate embrace with a gangly, dark-haired man. You recognise him immediately.

“Doctor Dao,” you call out, resting your elbows on the counter. “Did you at least wash your hands before putting them all over my best friend?”

Alex and Ella break apart swiftly, but he keeps one arm wrapped around her waist. “Hey, cookie,” he says, flashing you an apologetic grin. “Didn’t see you there.”

You arch one brow, lips curling into an amused smirk. “I’ll say.”

Only then do you catch sight of the other man lingering by the door, and your smile quickly morphs into an irritated frown. Harry is watching you with twinkling eyes, like he knows the effect his presence has on you. How could he not? You don’t try to hide your disdain, especially when it comes to him.

“Harry,” you say curtly, lifting your chin in stubborn acknowledgement.

He brings two fingers to his temple—a mock-salute. “Sweetheart.”

You clench your jaw. God, he makes your blood boil. Rather than responding, you turn back to Alex, who is now smoothing his palms over Ella’s silky brown hair. “You’re late,” you tell him. “You were supposed to be here when we closed.”

“Sorry, cookie,” Alex says, and he sounds like he means it. “My last surgery of the day had a few…complications.”

You purse your lips as the annoyance melts away. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” He nods, blowing out a heavy breath. He looks tired. “We figured it out.”

“That’s good.”

Alex directs his attention back to Ella, leaning in and pressing a chaste kiss to the tip of her nose. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah,” she replies. “Just let me grab my bag.”

“Cool,” he says. “You don’t mind if we drop Harry off at his place, right? His car is fucked, apparently.”

Ella’s grey eyes widen. She peers over her boyfriend’s shoulder at Harry. “What happened?”

Harry waves away her concerns, chuckling quietly. He tugs on the collar of his blue scrubs, and you can’t stop your gaze from trailing across the plethora of tattoos inked into his arm. Your nose wrinkles at the sight. He looks ridiculous. What kind of doctor would agree to don such outrageous body art?

“He’s being dramatic,” Harry says, shooting Alex a pointed glare. “My car’s at the shop right now, but I’ll have it back by tomorrow evening at the latest.”

“Oh.” Ella relaxes. “Okay, that’s great. Babe—” She turns to Alex. “—when are our reservations?”

“Eight-thirty,” Alex says. “Plenty of time.”

“Awesome,” she chirps. She scurries around the counter and playfully bumps her hip against yours. “My purse is in the back. Give me one second.”

And then she’s gone.

You stare at Alex, fighting a clever smile. “Tonight’s the night, huh?” you murmur, quiet enough so that there’s no chance of Ella overhearing.

He beams, shouldering his knapsack and dragging his sweaty palms down the front of his shirt. His scrubs are a light purple, you note. The shade compliments his dark skin.

“Yeah,” he replies, gnawing anxiously on his bottom lip. “She’ll say yes, right?”

You scoff, rolling your eyes good-naturedly. “Of course she will.”

Just then, Ella bursts through the door, her leather purse swinging wildly against her waist. “Alright!” She claps once, striding over to you and planting a wet, sloppy kiss onto your cheek. “I’m off.”

“Bye,” you say, wiping her saliva from your face with the back of your hand. “Have fun.”

Alex waves at you as she tugs him out of the bakery. “See you later, cookie.”

You wink. “See you.”

Harry is the last one to leave. He glances at you momentarily, the corners of his lips quirking up into a smug smile. The look makes you bristle. He’s absolutely infuriating.

“Got any leftover almond croissants?” he asks. Silent laughter taints every word.

You point to the exit. “Get out.”

He bows his chin in farewell, approaching the door. “Sweetheart.”

“Asshole,” you reply flatly. Now that your friends are out of earshot, you’re under no obligation to tolerate him. Sometimes, you find yourself actually craving his company, just so you can drop the pretence and really give him a piece of your mind. You’re a mature adult, and you won’t ruin a social gathering because of one presumptuous dickhead, but everyone has their limits. You don’t owe him shit.

Harry chuckles to himself, and you clench your fists at your sides. He shoots you one last maddening smirk before disappearing out the door. You rush forward, latching it swiftly and ensuring that the sign against the glass reads ‘CLOSED’. Once you’ve successfully locked up, you march into the back of the shop, plucking your own purse off one of the metal counters and tugging it over your shoulder. You shut the light and return to the front, scanning the clean tables, the empty display cases, the shades drawn over the windows. Shards of the sunset stream through the cracks in the blinds, casting orange stripes along the floor.

All clear, a voice in your head whispers, and you sigh.

Finally—you can go home.

August 28th, 2021

Quick, frantic knocking rouses you from your sleep. Blearily, you sit up on the mattress, knuckling at your puffy eyes. The hardwood floor is cold against the soles of your feet when you climb out of bed. You shiver.

The insistent clamour continues as you pad down the hallway. You tug at the hem of your worn, baggy t-shirt, concealing your midriff. Ella wastes no time after you open the front door, surging past the threshold and vaulting herself into your arms.

“He proposed!” she squeals as the two of you stagger backward. You freeze, remembering Alex’s plans from the day before. His apprehension, too—the way he wiped his clammy palms against his scrubs and anxiously dug his teeth into his bottom lip. Shock ebbs and flows through your veins for a fraction of a second, but then you’re sweeping Ella into a tight hug, rocking your bodies from side to side.

“Oh my God,” you say. Excitement festers beneath the murky exhaustion clouding your mind. “He did it.”

Ella steps back, brows knitting together in bewilderment. “You knew?” When you nod, she scoffs, aiming a half-hearted swat at your bicep. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“Why the fuck would I tell you?” you retort, rolling your eyes at the demand. “Come on. Let’s see it.”

A bright grin stretches across her lips, and she holds up her left hand, wiggling her fingers keenly. You spy the ring resting on the fourth digit: a simple platinum band topped with a large, clear diamond. Grey morning light bounces off the gemstone, and it winks at you as if it knows something that you don’t.

“Gorgeous,” you breathe, gripping Ella’s wrist to bring her hand closer. You scrutinize the ring carefully, smiling to yourself. “He’s got good taste.”

“Doesn’t he?” she gushes, beaming like an idiot. You beckon her into the kitchen, and she collapses onto one of the tall stools positioned in front of the marble island. A quick glance at the digital clock on the stove reveals that it’s only eight in the morning. You groan, rubbing gentle circles against your temples.

“I was hoping I’d get to sleep in today,” you say, lips curling into a wry smirk.

Ella shoots you a sheepish, apologetic smile, sliding her purse off her shoulder and placing it on the counter. “I’m sorry, cookie. I couldn’t wait.”

“I’m just kidding,” you tell her, floating around the room to prepare a pot of coffee. “So…how did he do it?”

She launches into a frenzied retelling of the night before. Alex brought her to the same restaurant they’d visited four years ago on their first date. They ordered their food and made conversation. Things proceeded as usual until the end of the meal, at which point Alex set his napkin down on the table and excused himself to the restroom. Two minutes later, the waiter arrived with the bill. Ella accepted it graciously, scanning the thin paper and pausing at the question scrawled at the very bottom of the slip. When she snapped her head up, searching for her boyfriend in the crowded dining area, she found him kneeling a few feet away from her chair, a small velvet box nestled securely in his steady hands.

“I started crying immediately,” she tells you, groaning at the memory. “I couldn’t keep it together. It was so embarrassing.”

You toss your head back and laugh. Despite the crimson blush staining her cheeks, she joins in. The coffeemaker beeps, signalling that the pot is ready. You fetch two mugs from the cupboard and fill them with dark liquid. Ella accepts her drink eagerly, blowing cool air across its surface. You grimace as she takes a tentative sip—you’ve never understood her penchant for unsweetened black coffee. Sugar and cream are a must.

“I’m so happy for you, El,” you tell her, stirring a small spoon around your mug. “You’re going to be the most beautiful bride.”

Her eyes grow damp. You snicker quietly, reaching across the island and swiping your thumb beneath her bottom lashes. She catches your hand and kisses your knuckles softly, clearing her throat.

“Will you—?” She releases a shuddering breath. “Will you be my maid of honour?”

You stiffen at her request. Her gaze rakes over your face, like she’s searching for any clue as to how you might respond. At last, your shoulders sag in relief, and an ecstatic smile splits across your cheeks.

“Of course,” you say, voice thick. Tears gather in your own eyes, but you blink them back furiously. “I would love nothing more.”

She sets her coffee down and skirts around the counter, yanking you into another bone-crushing hug. You grin as she presses a handful of sloppy kisses to the side of your head. Her elbow knocks against your abandoned mug, and a few drops of coffee spill down the side of the cup. You laugh at her enthusiasm, pulling back and sweeping your hands over her silky hair.

“It’s probably way too soon, but have you guys started discussing anything?” you ask, arching one eyebrow.

Ella flushes pink, averting her gaze. “Um…when we got home, there wasn’t really much of a discussion going on.”

You cackle, poking at her ribs. “Oh, he gave it to you good, didn’t he? It’s a miracle that you’re not limping right now.”

“Be quiet,” she yelps, stamping her eyes shut.

You lift your hands and shoot her a teasing smirk. “I’m not judging, okay? If anything, I’m living vicariously through your various sexual conquests. It’s been months since I last got any action.”

“Maybe that should change,” Ella says, folding her arms over her chest. “You and Harry could probably fuck out your frustrations. His dick is huge, apparently.”

You balk. “Ella!”

She shrugs, grey eyes widening comically. “What? Alex told me!”

You snort, but say nothing. She watches you cautiously, examining your features for any signs of acquiescence. Any indication that you might actually be considering her lewd suggestion. You almost gag.

“Why do you hate him so much, anyway?” Ella asks, flicking an invisible speck of lint off her shoulder. “You’re not still hung up on that fiasco with the almond croissant, are you?”

“I’m not doing this with you again,” you say, and she sighs.

“Okay, I’m sorry. But can you at least try to be civil while we plan the wedding? For my sake.”

After mulling over her words, you slouch in defeat. “Fine. But only for you,” you say, throwing a stern finger in her face.

She beams. “Thank you.” Something dirty flashes behind her pale eyes. “And if you do end up sleeping with him, I want all the details.”

You shove her gently and scoff. She laughs.

“Honestly,” you start, shaking your head, “it doesn’t matter how huge his dick is. I’d rather walk across hot coals than let somebody like him climb into my bed.”

“What makes you think it wouldn’t be the other way around?” Ella snickers. You glare at her, but she just steps back, raising her hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, fine. Have it your way. But I’m expecting you to find someone in time for the big day. Don’t let your plus-one go to waste.”

You roll your eyes, thoroughly unconvinced. “Noted.”

September 2nd, 2021

“Olly!” you call, sticking your head into the backroom. “Ella and I are going on our lunch break, but Leyla will be here in, like, twenty minutes. You going to be okay by yourself until then?”

Olly doesn’t even bother looking over his shoulder, too busy piping little flowers along the sides of the rectangular cake laid out in front of him. He lifts one hand, waving away your concerns before running his palm over his short blue hair. He buzzed and dyed it just last week after claiming that he couldn’t stand how the long brown curls stuck to the nape of his neck. It took a few days to get used to the change, but now that the initial shock has faded, you have to admit that he looks great.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Olly says, putting the finishing touches on the cake. He sets his piping bag down and turns toward you, wiping his palms against his red apron. His left ear bears a swirl of shiny silver piercings. “I’ll be out in a second.”

“Thanks,” you say, flashing him a small smile. He returns it, and then you’re spinning on your heel and letting the door swing shut behind you.

You find Ella waiting outside the bakery. She urges you along, and you squawk at her impatience.

“What’s the rush?” you ask, falling into step with her as you both amble down the sidewalk. “We have forty-five minutes.”

“I don’t want Alex’s sandwich to get cold,” she explains, holding up the small paper bag clutched in her right hand. You snort.

The two of you make it to Ridgefield Hospital in record time, mostly because Ella grips your arm and gives it a forceful tug whenever you start lagging behind. You walk through the automatic doors, ignoring the row of ambulances parked outside. The secretaries sitting at the front desk shoot you a few distracted smiles—they’ve all grown accustomed to your frequent visits by now.

Ella babbles endlessly as you enter the elevator, pressing the button for the fifth floor and waiting as the metal doors slide shut.

“I want to ask Alice and Leyla to be part of the bridal party, but I’m scared the guys will feel bad if Alex doesn’t choose them as his groomsmen. Like, I think they’d understand, considering I work with the girls and we’re all pretty close, but I don’t know.” She nudges you with her elbow. “What do you think?”

“I think you should do whatever the fuck you want,” you tell her, shrugging. “It’s your wedding. And I don’t think Olly, Marcus, or Nick will mind if they’re not part of the bridal party. Olly doesn’t care about that stuff, and Marcus and Nick already have their hands full with their jobs at the bakery. Plus, they know Alex has his own friends—not just the ones he’s met through you.”

Ella nibbles on her bottom lip, her head bobbing in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right.”

You lay a placid hand on her shoulder. “You’re already overthinking this. You’ve only been engaged for a week. Enjoy it.”

She shoots you a grateful smile just as the elevator dings and the doors glide open, and the two of you step out onto the hospital’s paediatric floor. It’s a stark contrast to the other sections of the building. Instead of barren white walls, these ones are painted with all sorts of pretty, colourful decorations—flowers, rainbows, sunsets, animals. A massive sign in front of you denotes the different divisions on the floor and where to find them: the ICU, the operating rooms, the palliative unit, the psychiatry wing, and the oncology department. You and Ella turn right, making the familiar trek to Alex’s office.

“He should be on his lunch break, too,” she says. “Unless they paged him for another emergency surgery.”

You hum in response.

Sure enough, you find Alex at his desk, twirling a blue pen between his fingers as he pores over the stack of papers in front of him. Ella knocks gently against the open door, and his face lights up when he spies her standing in the threshold. He moves quickly, crossing the room in five long strides, and plants a searing kiss onto her lips. You look away, rocking awkwardly on the balls of your feet.

“Hey,” Alex murmurs after he and Ella break apart. That’s when he notices you behind her. “Hey, cookie.”

“Hey,” you reply. You toss your thumb over your shoulder. “I’m just going to—you know, the usual.”

He nods.

The last thing you see before you turn around is Ella holding up the brown paper bag, and Alex’s face splitting into a bright, easy smile.

You meander through the halls, trailing your fingers over the rich artwork covering the walls. The end of the corridor cleaves in two; you turn left and enter a large atrium. The ceiling is high and peppered with skylights. A small cafeteria sits off to the side, clusters of families chatting and laughing together as they eat. Children sprint around the space, their arms outstretched. Some of them are dressed in normal clothes—others don pale hospital gowns, their skinny legs bared for all to see. You wrench your attention away from them, fixing it instead on the far wall.

Slowly, you cross the room, surveying the vibrant handprints stamped against the plaster. There has to be hundreds of them, you think. They vary in size—some are so tiny you could cry. Colour becomes scarcer the higher you go—the youngest children are too short to reach those levels, obviously—but still. The sight takes your breath away. You visit this mural every time you find yourself at the hospital, and every time, you unearth a new detail that you hadn’t noticed before.

You walk along the length of the wall, dragging your fingertips across the dry, smooth paint. Purples and pinks and oranges and blues. Reds, greens, yellows, browns. Each handprint is a person—a pair of little feet that scuffled over this very floor, a blank story that had yet to unfold. Briefly, you wonder how many survived whatever illnesses plagued them, and how many succumbed to their conditions. The thought makes your throat grow tight with emotion, so you quickly shove it aside.

Ten minutes pass before you’re leaving the mural behind and heading back the way you came. You’ve just rounded the corner when a strong, solid body barrels into you. You grunt at the impact, smacking one palm against the wall to steady yourself.

“I’m sorry,” you start, lifting your head to meet the stranger’s gaze. “I wasn’t paying—oh.”

Harry smirks, his green eyes glittering with mirth once he recognises you. You purse your lips, wishing the ground would just open up and swallow you whole.

“Harry,” you say, nodding stiffly.

He folds his arms over his chest. “Sweetheart.”

His brown hair is tousled, and his biceps strain against the white button-up adorning his torso. Black slacks cover his legs, and he’s wearing a pair of pristine leather shoes, ones that look like they might’ve cost a month’s worth of rent. Your teeth grate together noisily. The sound echoes in your ears.

“What are you doing here?” Harry asks, as though the two of you are old friends. You want to scoff—you’d rather stick your hand in an oven than make idle conversation with him.

“Visiting Alex,” you say tightly, stepping back. “Ella brought him lunch.”

At that, Harry straightens. “Ella’s here?”

“Yes.”

“I wish I’d run into her,” he murmurs, pinching his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger.

You throw him a scowl. “Asshole.”

Harry cocks one eyebrow, tilting his chin haughtily. “Forgive me if I prefer her company to yours. At least she doesn’t treat me like I’m some insufferable bastard.”

“Maybe if you stopped being such an insufferable bastard, I wouldn’t treat you like one,” you shoot back, planting your hands on your hips. You tense as Harry’s gaze rakes down your body—head to toe, like he’s sizing up an opponent. His nose wrinkles in disdain, and you fight the urge to deliver a sharp, backhanded slap across that pretty, perfect face.

Harry opens his mouth, and you brace yourself for whatever retort he has prepared. What comes out is nothing overtly nasty, but it is enough to make you want to shrink away and curl into yourself until you wink out of existence.

“You smell like yeast,” he says, and tosses in a derisive sniff just for the added effect.

You recoil as the words slam into you, blinking in shock.

Asshole. Rude, arrogant, condescending asshole.

“I own a bakery,” you grit out. Harry shrugs, but says nothing else. Your lips flap wordlessly as he pushes past you, his shoulder bumping against yours. You watch him go, massaging the tender spot on your arm with shaky fingers. Your eyes fall to his ass for only a moment before skittering away, and a hollow laugh catches in your throat.

What a fucking prick.

September 17th, 2021

“Attention, everyone!” Ella stands at the head of the table, clinking her fork delicately against her glass. “I wanted to make a little toast.”

The conversation around you tapers off into silence. You sit back in your chair, focussing on your best friend. She looks splendid in her pretty blue dress, her dark hair twisted into an elaborate knot at the nape of her neck. She peers around the room, chewing nervously on the inside of her cheek. When her gaze locks with yours, you grant her a tiny, encouraging nod.

She beams, her next words imbued with renewed enthusiasm. “I wanted to thank all of you for coming here tonight to celebrate our engagement with us.” She holds out her hand, and Alex presses a gentle kiss to her knuckles. “We’re so grateful to be sharing this milestone with such a wonderful group of people.”

You inspect the other guests gathered around the table. To your right sit Alice and Leyla, the first employees you hired when you were trying to get your business up off the ground. It’s odd seeing them like this—poised and elegant, looking nothing at all like they do during the long, arduous shifts at the bakery. Alice’s blond hair has been fashioned into an intricate braid, and Leyla’s brown eyes are lined with dark kohl and smoky eyeshadow. They clean up nice, you must admit.

Next to Leyla: Ella’s older sister, Hillary. They have the same piercing grey eyes, though Hillary’s hair is a shade lighter. You didn’t miss the sour expression that trundled across her face when you waltzed into Alex and Ella’s condo. She’s jealous, you think. Jealous that Ella chose you as her maid of honour instead of her. You’ve been ignoring her resentful glares for the better half of the night, letting her bitterness pass over you like a cloud. Whatever her problem is, it’s clear that the issue lies between her and her sister. You’re not getting in the middle of that.

It doesn’t help that she’s been fawning over Harry all evening. Upon witnessing her coquettish behaviour, you glanced at Ella, brows raised, but your best friend just rolled her eyes and yielded a helpless shrug of her shoulders. At least the attraction didn’t appear to be one-sided—that would have been humiliating, you think—because Harry gave as good as he got, chuckling sincerely and flirting right back. You had to suppress the urge to retch, and sent out a quiet prayer of gratitude when Ella and Alex sat them as far away from each other as possible at the beginning of the meal.

On the opposite side of the table: Alex’s groomsmen—Milo, Sasha, and Connor. You’ve been in their company a few times, mainly on birthdays and other special occasions. According to Alex, they all met when Milo accidentally vomited during their very first anatomy lesson at medical school. Milo insists that the putrid smell of the cadavers was simply too awful to bear, but everyone else claims that he just couldn’t stand the idea of being so close to a dead body. No matter the truth, the story always makes you giggle. The four of them have been good friends ever since.

The five of them, you remind yourself as your gaze settles on Harry, who is lounging in the chair directly across from you.

Harry—Alex’s best friend. Harry—Alex’s best man.

You wanted to rip your hair from your scalp when Ella broke the news. Several images flashed through your head all at once. You and Harry inching rigidly down the aisle, arms linked. You and Harry donning the same colours, your gown complimenting the spry flower pinned to the lapel of his suit. You and Harry flanking Ella and Alex while they recite their vows, glaring daggers at each other behind your friends’ backs. Even now, the mere thought of it has you biting down on an exasperated groan.

You don’t realise that you’ve zoned out until the faint quirk of Harry’s mouth catches your eye. You blink once to yank yourself from your daze, and clench your jaw when you find him staring at you with an amused look on his face. He places his elbows against the arms of the chair and clasps his hands together. Unmistakable smugness emanates from him, as if he somehow managed to crawl inside your mind and saw exactly what you were envisioning. Your nostrils flare, and you fix your attention back on Ella, who has reached the end of her speech.

“Cheers,” she says, holding up her glass. The champagne inside sloshes and fizzles temptingly. Would she allow you to chug the entire bottle, if you asked?

Everyone around the table mirrors her movements, raising their own drinks and touching them together lightly. Quiet, delicate clanking fills the room, and the friendly chatter resumes. You nudge Ella with your elbow, shooting her a proud smile. “That was great, El.”

She beams. “Thanks, cookie.” She then picks up her fork and motions to the plate in front of her, piled high with seasoned chicken and steaming, roasted vegetables. “Let’s eat.”

~*~

“Are you sure you’ve got him?” Alex asks Sasha, gesturing to the very inebriated Connor wobbling at his side.

Sasha wraps one arm around their friend, letting Connor rest his full weight against him. He bares two rows of perfect ivory teeth, flashing a wicked grin. “Yeah. Besides, I’ve been meaning to pay him back for the shit he pulled at the barbecue last month. There’s a Sharpie in my car.”

“You’re going to draw a dick on his face, aren’t you?” Alex muses.

“Obviously.”

With that, Alex bids them both farewell, shutting the door and heaving a dramatic sigh. Ella approaches him after a moment, hooking her chin over his shoulder and murmuring something indiscernible into his ear. He chuckles softly.

“Didn’t peg you as the voyeur type, sweetheart,” a low voice says from behind you.

You jump, whirling around and coming face-to-face with Harry. He’s got a green washcloth slung over his left shoulder—the shade brings out his eyes, a traitorous voice in your head whispers—and his arms are folded neatly across his chest. Your gaze falls to the collar of his black button-up, where he’s undone the first two discs, leaving his sternum exposed. Tendrils of ink peek out from beneath the dark material.

You frown and take a step back, putting distance between your bodies. “You’re such an asshole.”

“So I’ve heard.” His lips twitch, and he rolls up his sleeves. “Now, if you’re done ogling them like a lovestruck puppy, I could use some help in the kitchen.”

You grit your teeth, but follow him into the other room. Harry grabs the rag hanging over his shoulder and holds it out for you. You snatch it from his fingers without a word, and the two of you take up residence in front of the sink. Harry plunges his hands into the soapy water, rinsing the dishes thoroughly before passing them to you. You stand as far away from him as possible while you dry each plate, your movements stiff and choppy. This is not how you wanted to finish off the night, but Alex and Ella spent the entire day preparing the food, and it was delicious. The least you can do is spare them the hassle of tidying up.

The tense silence eats at you, until you feel like you might explode. Unable to bear it any longer, you hastily blurt, “Saw you getting pretty cozy with Hillary before dinner.”

Immediately, you want to kick yourself. Where the fuck did that come from?

Harry snorts, shrugging coolly. “We’ve hooked up a few times, but it’s nothing serious.” He shoots you a mischievous grin. “You jealous?”

“Of Hillary?” you scoff, rolling your eyes. “Please. The woman’s standards are practically underground. Why else would she be interested in someone like you?”

Harry scowls, and hot satisfaction surges through your veins. Yes, the taunt was mean, but no, you don’t care. “You’re a real bitch sometimes, you know that?” he says.

You flash him a petty, insincere smile. “Only to you.”

He squeezes the yellow sponge nestled in his right hand, scrubbing it forcefully across a dirty plate. “Maybe you should find someone to hook up with. It might help get that stick out of your ass.”

“I have better things to do,” you sneer, narrowing your eyes.

“Better than sex?” He chokes on a derisive laugh.

“Yes.”

“Like what?”

“Like…things!” you snap, fingers curling into tight fists. “I run my own business, for God’s sake. And I’m going to make Ella’s wedding cake.” You announce the last part proudly, hauling your chin into the air.

Harry, however, looks unimpressed. He shakes his head, blowing out a heavy sigh. “Uh-oh.”

You pause. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He shrugs again, but you detect a hint of malice behind the action. “It’s just…I’ve seen the way you decorate cakes. Ella might be better off going elsewhere—you know, to an actual professional.”

Son of a—

“That’s rich, coming from you,” you say, motioning to the mismatched tattoos littered across his arm. “What would you know about professionalism? It looks like you let a preschooler doodle all over you.”

Harry bares his teeth in a feral grin. “Deflection. I’m not surprised.”

You bristle at his words. “Asshole.”

“You’ll need to get a bit more creative with the insults, sweetheart. I’m growing bored.”

“Is that so?” you say. “I think ‘asshole’ suits you just fine. Maybe you should have become a proctologist instead of a paediatrician.”

“At least I pursued something I was good at. I’m not sure if you can say the same.”

“You fucking—”

“Everything okay in here?” Ella asks, floating into the kitchen. You spin around to conceal your anger, placing your hands against the counter and inhaling deeply. You roll your shoulders back and slap an artificial smile onto your face before turning once more.

“Everything’s fine,” you say, and fake a yawn, covering your mouth with your palm. “I think I’m going to call it a night. I’m exhausted.”

Ella’s bottom lip juts out into a pout. Her red lipstick has faded, leaving only a stain of scarlet in its wake. On cue, Alex walks into the kitchen behind her, setting a steady hand on her hip and cocking his head to the side. “Hey. Everything okay in here?”

You nearly snort. Fucking soulmates.

“All good,” you tell him, nodding brusquely. “I’m just going to finish up with the dishes and head home.”

“Okay.” Alex presses a soft kiss to Ella’s temple, murmuring something about needing to get out of his stuffy clothes. You whirl, drying the last of the plates with frantic, shaky fingers. In your peripheral vision, you spy Harry watching you, but the stupid bastard must possess some scrap of self-preservation, because he keeps his mouth shut. You say nothing else as you whack the rag down onto the counter and stride out of the room.

You don’t miss Alex and Ella’s hushed whispers at the other end of the hall, but a little voice in your head tells you not to interrupt them. You halt at the front door, snatching your purse off one of the metal hooks mounted on the wall. You’re in the middle of putting on your shoes when you hear it:

“I was hoping we could arrange a truce, you know.”

You twist around, palm flying to your chest. Harry is standing a few feet away, his hands still wet with the water from the sink. He clasps them together and ducks his head, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d almost think he was ashamed.

Something vile bubbles in the pit of your stomach. You gnaw on the flesh of your cheek, trying to reel your emotions back in. You refuse to give him the satisfaction of witnessing another outburst.

“Keep your fucking truce,” you spit, and wrench open the door. You shoot him one last withering look before stepping out of the condo and slamming it shut.

#be sweet #harry writing #lmao you can tell i've given up on posting my writing on tumblr cus i don't even tag it with the typical fic tags anymore 😭

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the-terminal-archive · 3 years

Text

The Power Plant was quiet today.

There was the gentle clinking of movement, none of it seemed brisk to Ametrine. They have grown bored of being in the walls of this safe space, a hundred miles below surface light. It was a little warmer than it was yesterday, perhaps other garnets were forming today? They couldn’t tell. With a huff, they stood up, following the footsteps they heard. They’ve lived here long enough to tell who that was. “Tsavorite!!! You! I’m bored!” “Bored?” It was said with a warm laugh as they turned to face the sterling-plated gem, rearranging their scouter as they thought of what they wished to do. “Hm...are you going to suggest-” “I wanna go outside!” “-You want to go outside, of course.” They glanced away as they remembered the route the other would have to take. “Well, Some of the other Larimar have dug tunnels to look for tiny bits of Uranium and other radioactive bits… You’ll have to take that route up.” “Did you cause another cave-in? Again?” “It’ll be fixed soon enough, Ametrine. Do be careful traversing through there, will you? Wouldn’t want too many particles of that mineral to infest you.” “Mhm!! Mhm!!! Is it cold on the surface today?” “It always is, silly.” “Again??? Ughhhh, but your heating system isn’t enough to keep me warm! I still have to take blankets…” “Oh, come now… it’s not that bad, now is it?” “I feel like a popsicle up there!!!” “Then, would you mind checking a certain mine for me?” “Is it that one stupid place with all that Kimberlite? You know, I’ve been telling you that you could just harvest from there! I don’t see why you don’t want anything from there.” “I’m just biding time. The jewelers wouldn’t want me drilling there yet.”

Jewelers…? “What are those?” Tsavorite was in the middle of replying after the question was begged before Ametrine felt a searing pain in their head. Their hands went up to their head, clenching it violently. They...They hoped this wouldn’t scuff the metal on their scalp. They could hear faint mumbling, but it only made them close their eyes tight, looking away. It felt like their head was splitting in two, every time this happened!

“Oh, dear...is that pain getting to you again? I’m...sorry.” Words finally would get through about a minute later. “Perhaps the information was too much for you to handle. I’m sure going back to the surface would help clear it a little more…” “Then I guess I’ll just go.” They grumbled, trying to keep their mind from going haywire a second time and result in another wave of pain. “Alright. Be safe out there, will you?” “Pff- when am I not…?” “Hah, I simply must make sure. You never know what’s out there.”

“You’re really weird sometimes.”

“Right back at you.” “Hu-Hey!!! No!!! You’re weirder.” “And you’re the weirdest.” The two managed to giggle at such a remark, the smaller turning heel. “Fine! I’ll spend a whole day there, you can’t stop me…!” “If you do, at least have fun while you’re there, alright?” “That’s a promise I can keep!” And with that, they kicked up their boots and darted away.

Already, the new route carved out by all the Larimar looked stunning- clean, dark green in color- it was hard to tell it was a mine at all. Dim, blacklight illuminated shattered Fluorites, which the tiny robots were also collecting by the pound. They had to pause for a moment just to take it all in, a tiny smile brought to their face. Sure, they were gonna miss that other route with all of the masses of different rock, but this was just as interesting! Maybe they’d take this path more often if they could tell how to get to the surface...Because right now, they felt absolutely lost! Well, that is until they saw a piling mass of bluescreening Larimar crowded around a little spot. Ametrine’s visor blinked a few times, a few warning signs popping up about the radioactive particles surrounding the place. Perhaps they could just spare a peek and move on…? They did just that, looking over the small pile to see them crowding over...oh. That was a hand. A hand, glowing a ghastly green in the UV light… It might have been a bit of Uranium, but...What did that even entail?

...Maybe it was just a weird rock growth! Moving along!

It would take them hours to reach the surface, shuddering as the cold air surrounding them. Right, right, the Kimberlite mines… How far was that away again??? Mmm...mmmm… At the base of those mountains….They figured that if they went at top speed, they could get there in ten minutes! Those ten minutes did not account for that one tumble they took, but nobody else saw it! That didn’t happen! They managed to stay warm that whole time just by going as fast as they did! They nearly splatted into the post by the entrance to the abandoned mine, taking a step back and sticking their tongue out at it. “Why did you have to be there? You’re a dummy little wood!!!” Ametrine pouted playfully, glancing away. Was it even warm in these mines…? Entering the place, it was...fairly dark. Hard to see much in someplace that’s been ditched for as long as it has… If you weren’t this neat little plated gem! All they had to do was turn the brightness up a little, and- yep! Haha, there was all the rock! None of it was Kimberlite just yet, but in the gaping pitfalls this mine had, it was easier to see it further down. Sure, it was a long way, but they had all the time in the world! A whole day to spend here, trying once again to find movement that they know isn’t here! Tch, Tsavorite would never have the time of day mining in this place, and it would go to someone else. Oh- right!! The jewelers… They completely forgot to ask that scientist to repeat themself! Dammit… a day of never knowing could very easily turn into decades if they forgot about it all! Hm, perhaps others more commonly spoke of them… Why weren’t they ever spoken of to Ametrine until just now? Maybe to keep them from worrying...silly scientist! Nothing worried them! That’s why they were here! All alone! With absolutely nobody to help or save them if they cried out for help, which they wouldn’t need anywhere in the near future! Yep!!! They were doing this all on their own, like a grown-up gem! Maybe someday they’d be considered healthy enough to go back to all the other yellow or purple gems… They hoped that would be the case sooner rather than later! Hmhm, they could take on anything that was thrown at them! And, that’s when they heard clinking. That...wasn’t from them! Maybe it was from stalactites or something. The Pristine Peaks had that happen a lot, and it kind of sounded like clinking! Hehe…

They heard clinking again, a little louder this time. This got Ametrine to stop for a minute, glancing around and letting light hit wherever it could. They weren’t even that deep into the mine, what could possibly be up here?! Another clink. Another. Another. Several successive clinks, it didn’t sound like something that could walk. “Hello?” They called out into the depths, where they thought the noise was coming from. More clinks. This sure was taking forever for it to show itself, but...at some point, they stopped again. It was at that moment Ametrine sensed movement at the other side of the tunnel they were in, a terrible figure to train their eyes on, but… Once it started approaching again, their heart jumped into their throat. It was a cluster of crystalline masses in the shapes of limbs and faces all smothered together, its appearance smeared into the surreal. It was too shallow in the ground to classify it as diamond, so it must have been a cluster of quartz, but even still- what was something like that doing here?! Ametrine was too scared to do more than sputter out fragments of sentences, silenced only by the shrill cry of it as it continued moving in. Did it- did it wish to tear them apart!? And, just as they were ready to turn heel and book it out of there, Another figure dropped down from a hole in the ‘ceiling’ of this dreaded place, facing towards the beast. “Another of you?! I swear, the next time one of you appears this close to the surface without an innocent closeby, I’ll just let you terrorize the world.” It was hard to see what gem they could be when the place was so dark, let alone the fact they had never heard such a voice before. However, their attention was drawn down as the figure pulled out two sharp, curved daggers...one concealed in each heel. The mess of crystal they stood in the way bellowed again, getting this new soul to say just as sternly back,

“Back down from this fellow quartz, you fiend! I will not let you take a single soul so long as you remain in these mines!”

...Ametrine looked away from the scene, too frightened by the enemy’s appearance to dare glance back. Maybe they should have declined to come to the mines! They would have loved being bored in Tsavorite’s radioactive wasteland than being here… Yet, it was a bit late now, and...they’d have to trust whoever this was, for better or worse.

#Cookie run #cookie run ovenbreak #cookie run au #ametrine #tsavorite #prologue : the kimberlite mines #cw body horror

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novantinuum · 3 years

Link

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: T

Words: ~650

Summary: His family’s not present, the third time he runs away. They never see the creature he becomes.

Early corruption AU.

Time skip this chapter. I have some meta notes on the time period I’ve chosen for Steven’s corruption in the end notes of the AO3 copy, if you’re interested.

____

MISSING PERSON Have you seen me?

Steven Quartz Universe 16 years old, 5’5”, curly dark brown hair.

Missing since March 10th, 2017, from Beach City, Delmarva. Last seen wearing light blue jeans, sandals, and a black t-shirt with a yellow star. Occasionally glows pink.

If you have any information about his whereabouts, please contact the following number: 340-782-7572

____

One week.

One week to the day since the Gems last saw him, and there’s no sign of his reappearance. No new clues. Nothing.

One whole week, and all Greg Universe has to show for it is a van in disarray, two empty boxes of tissues, more cans of cheap hard cider than is probably healthy for one man, and a few startling realizations.

Namely, that there’s no perfect word to describe that unusual brand of grief a parent experiences when they’re mourning the loss of a child who isn’t even (knowably) deceased.

He’s lost track of his son before, of course, but not like this. Not for this excruciating length of time. Not without at least knowing the name of the planet he’s trapped on. And that’s the crux of their issue, really, searching for Steven. With a whole galactic warp network at his fingertips, he could quite literally be anywhere.

Rebelling against that oh-so-familiar crushing weight that threatens to stamp down on his chest and drown him in his own sorrow, he grabs the top sheet of paper from his stack and aligns it next to the old missing dog advert that’s been hanging there dejectedly for the past year and a half. Sighing heavily and angling to avoid his son’s smiling reference image, he picks a thumbtack from the box he’s brought along and uses it to secure one corner of his flyer on the hole-ridden cork board. He’s sure that some people— gesturing to his earlier logic— might question why he’s bothering to hang missing person flyers on little, unassuming Earth when he knows his son might have disappeared to any corner in the known galaxy. In some respects he agrees with them. There’s no guarantee Steven is still on this planet. Given how little information they possess, there’s not even any guarantee that he’s alive. But even amongst so many heart wrenching unknowns, Greg owes it to himself and his own mental stability to try something.

Anything, if only to help.

“Thanks for letting me hang this up in here,” he says, pressing one last thumbtack through the opposing top corner of the flyer.

“Hey, that’s what the community board’s for, right?” Barb Miller chirps in an overly chipper tone as she sorts the last of today’s mail behind the desk “It’s no problem. No problem at all. In fact, if you want, I could probably hang up some more of these for ya’ as I head on my route today.”

He firmly shakes his head, picking the thick stack of papers off the counter and clutching them tight within his grasp. He yearns for a kinder reality in which he could’ve shielded his son from the dangers of this world in the same manner.

“That’s all right. I’ll do it myself. I could use the work, y’know? Keep my mind off things, and all.”

Barb’s expression fills with sympathy. “Yeah, ‘course,” she says, scratching at the nape of her neck. “Listen, I, uh... I’m really sorry to hear about Steven. He’s a real good kid.”

Greg merely nods, his emotions on the matter still far too raw to manage a vocal response. And who can blame him? This isn’t the first time he’s experienced the soul-crushing weight of loss. Silently, he turns on his heels and leaves her to her far less depressing duties.

“Too good,” he mumbles under his breath as he closes the post office door behind him, holding his supply of missing person flyers. “He deserved better.”

#su #su future #greg universe #barb miller #su fanfiction #my writing stuff

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spicycreativity · 3 years

Note

The Core Four (Logan, Roman, Virgil and Patton) are somewhere spooky, old house, in the woods, etc etc, and it's a place where poltergeist/demon/ghost/devil/spirit/whatever you want Remus resides and haunts and is scary and evil in. (Or they summon him) And he's like "Ooh time to mess with them muahahahaha!" but he sees Patton and gets like this "Cute boy!" And gets interested in Patton instead.

Boop

Words: 2k

Pairing: Pre-slash Intruality

Other notes: College AU, mild Vitaminwater slander, somewhat based on my own college experience of being straight edge and bored all the time and also owning multiple fist-sized chunks of quartz crystal purchased from the tent outside the gas station down by the on-ramp on the far side of town 🥴 Our abandoned dorm building was not haunted, tho

Content warnings: Mentions of underage drinking (not depicted), mentions of overdosing (non-graphic), Remus is sexually forward toward Patton, swearing, innuendo, etc. Still, I'd only rate this T

While it was rooming assignments that brought Roman, Patton, Logan, and Virgil together during the first weeks at university, it was their mutual unwillingness to break any sort of rule that kept them together. While their peers were drinking smuggled alcohol and racking up write-ups from the RAs, the foursome would sit on Logan and Virgil's side of the dorm suite drinking Vitaminwater and attempting to entertain themselves with board games and Netflix. This, predictably, got old quickly and weekends soon became a desperate battle to stave off boredom and existential ennui.

The fraying thread of Roman's patience finally snapped the night Patton suggested Pogs. The lack of adventure had chafed at him longer than it had the others and he secretly longed for some sort of thrill, even if it meant breaking the rules.

"Ugh," Roman threw himself backwards onto the pillow he'd stolen from Logan's bed, nearly knocking over Patton's mostly-full bottle of grape Vitaminwater. "We're seriously so lame that we can't think of anything better to do than Pogs?"

"Hey," said Virgil from atop his bed, and shook a few drops of açai-blueberry-pomegranate sugar water onto Roman's forehead.

"Sorry, Patton," Roman added, wrinkling his nose at the unpleasant sensation. "No offense, but I'm just so bored! I was expecting more adventure when I finally left my dreary old hometown."

"I thought you told us you were from Los Angeles," Logan said, tossing a package of Wet Wipes down onto Roman's chest. "And Virgil, I understand why you would want to teach Roman a lesson, but please try not to stain my pillowcase."

"What do you wanna do, Roman?" Patton asked, adjusting himself where he was propped up against one of the legs of Logan's bed.

"I don't know! All I know is that I have the most boring Snap story out of everyone in my stupid 100-level History class. Remy went surfing the other day. And he's from Nebraska! How does he know how to surf?"

"There it is," Virgil said.

Roman sat up again and opened up the Wet Wipes so he could clean off his face. "Lightning round! Suggestions. Go!" He pointed at Virgil.

"Um," said Virgil. "Uh-- Sca-- Uh, horror marathon. Horror movie marathon."

"Ugh, no." Roman pointed at Logan.

"Studying."

"Oh, come on. Patton?"

"We all go to bed early so we can wake up and get breakfast together before the dining hall runs out of waffle batter?"

"Guuuys." Roman pointed at Virgil again.

"Man, I dunno, Roman! Like I'm the expert in what looks good on a Snapchat story."

"You're the one who's bored," Logan added. "Why don't you suggest something?"

"That's not how it works!" Roman shot back. "I'm the-- the arbiter, the czar! You're the idea guys."

"Okay, fine!" Virgil leaned over the edge of the bed to better give Roman the evil eye. "How about we break into the shut-down dorms with a ouija board and try to contact the spirit of that kid who OD'ed in the bathroom?"

"That's the spirit," Roman said.

"Ha," Patton said weakly.

"Wait," said Virgil, already desperately trying to make eye contact with Logan. "I was kidding. You can't be serious."

"No, no, that's a great idea! Virgil, go get your ouija board and whatever other spooky shit you have tucked away.

"We're going now?" Patton squeaked.

Logan sighed and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Roman, anything you post to your Snapchat story can potentially be turned in as evidence and used to incriminate you. I suggest you leave your phone behind."

"Wait!" Virgil ran his hands through his hair, agitated. "You can't possibly be on board with this."

"I'm not," said Logan. "I am offering Roman advice for the same reason high school nurses' offices offer condoms: not as an encouragement, but as a safety measure. Either we all agree to go now or we all agree to go tomorrow night after Roman spends the whole day pouting and whining--"

"Hey!"

"So I suggest we just get it over with," Logan concluded.

"Seriously?" Patton was already pale and shaking, holding a stray hoodie of Virgil's close to his chest.

"It's okay, Patton," Virgil said, offering him a reassuring smile. "I'll let you wear my horn of protection amulet."

It took just under an hour to get everyone changed into darker clothes and outfitted with protective symbols from Virgil's collection. In addition to silver amulets and charms, he had handed out fist-sized chunks of quartz crystal to all of them with careful instructions not to lose them, as he wanted everything back at the end of the night.

But soon (all too soon for Patton) they faced the looming silhouette of the abandoned Monroe Hall. It was in surprisingly good repair despite the lack of security cameras and floodlights to deter intruders. In fact, the only light came from the blue emergency callbox situated a few yards down the path.

"We, genius," Virgil said, turning to Roman. "How do we get in?"

"I don't know!" Roman tossed up his hands. "I'd Google how to pick a lock but somebody" --he glared at Logan-- "made us leave our phones in the microwave."

"I already told you, it's a functional Faraday cage and--"

"Yeah, yeah, how about we save the science lectures for 8:00 am on Tuesdays and Thursday," Roman said.

"That was oddly specific," Virgil muttered, trying and failing to exchange a glance with Patton, who was staring at the ground and turning over the quartz crystal in his hands. "Wait, I've got an idea." He took his own chunk of quartz out of his pocket and slammed it through the glass door, sending a shower of tempered glass clattering onto the tiled floor inside. Then he stepped through the hole and beckoned the others in after him. "Let's go."

Patton made a muffled sound of fear and grabbed onto Logan's arm. "You don't really think there's a ghost, do you?"

"Of course not," Logan said, leading Patton inside and following Virgil to the stairs.

"Wait!" Roman jogged ahead to lead the charge. "Are we not gonna talk about Virgil just--"

"Found a broken door and stepped through it?" Virgil interrupted, bumping Roman with his hip. "No, we are not."

Roman led them up a flight of stairs and down a corridor similar to the one in their own dorm building. All the doors they tried were locked, so they set up the ouija board in the hallway outside the bathrooms.

"Okay, gang," Virgil said once they were all sequestered around the board. "Pointer fingers on the planchette."

"Not our whole hands?" Roman asked.

Virgil shot him a sideways glare. "I'm sorry, are you the expert on the occult?"

"Are you?" Roman asked.

"Relative expert," Virgil said, sticking out his tongue. "Now. Pointer fingers on the planchette."

"I really don't know if this is a good idea," Patton said, extending a shaking hand.

"You should be more afraid of campus security," Logan said. "Although from the state of the building, it appears that we are the first to successfully enter."

"Nothing's happening," Roman complained, his eyes on the planchette.

"We haven't asked a question yet, genius," Virgil sneered.

"It seems rude to barge into someone's house and just start asking questions," Patton said. He looked up, addressing the ghost. "Hi!"

The planchette jerked and began to shake. Anticipating Virgil's accusation, Roman held up his other hand. "It's not me!"

"Shut up!" Virgil snapped. "It's moving."

They read the letters out loud together as the planchette began to move around the board: "N-I-C-E." Pause. "C-O-C-K."

"Oh, come on." Virgil grabbed the planchette and threw it at Roman's face. "Not funny."

"I swear that wasn't me!" Roman said, smacking the planchette down. It clattered across the board and came to a stop by the number '2.'

"Roman," Patton chided, "it's really not nice to mess with us like that."

"You too?' Roman said. He turned to Logan. "Come on, Specs, you know it wasn't me."

"I know it wasn't a ghost. I know it wasn't me. I know Patton and Virgil aren't likely to make that sort of joke. Therefore, I can safely posit that it must have been you. Although I wouldn't make an accusation without more evidence."

"Oh, come on!" Roman put his hand on the planchette despite Virgil's noise of protest. "Hey, spirit. Can you do something else spooky so my friends stop accusing me of--"

What happened next was equal parts anticlimactic and chilling: Roman's eyes turned green and began to emit a gentle glow. He was silent for only a moment before turning to Patton with a chipper smile. "Hey, hot stuff! Nice cock."

"Whoa" said Virgil, scrambling backwards toward the wall. "What the fuck."

"He invited me in!" said Roman, or more accurately, the ghost possessing Roman's body.

"Oh my God," Patton said. "That's not Roman."

"Yeah, no shit!"

"I'll give him back in a minute," said the spirit. "I just had to shoot my shot with hottie over here. What's your name, sugar?"

"Uh," said Patton, glancing wildly at Virgil (who was fumbling in his pocket for his holy water or his salt, whatever he found first) and Logan (who was actively blue-screening). "Patton?"

"Nice to meet you, Patton." The ghost stuck Roman's hand out for a shake. "Name's Remus. Has anyone ever told you you're kinda DILF-y for a college student?"

"N-no?"

"Well, you are."

"Thanks, I guess." Patton sat back and pulled his legs up to his chest in an unmistakably defensive pose. "Um, is there something that you wanted, Remus?"

"I already told you!" Roman's face beamed in a way it never had before, his eyes twitching strangely in their sockets. "I just popped in to shoot my shot. So?"

"He's propositioning you," Logan hissed.

"I…" said Patton, panic whiting out his mind. Unable to find words, he held up his left hand to show off the silver band on his ring finger.

"You're married?" Roman's body leaned forward to read the engraved writing. "True love waits."

"It's a purity ring," Virgil explained, finally extricating a small vial from the tangle of cords and chains in his pocket. "And this is holy water."

"Wait," said Remus, "are you guys exorcising me? Cause I swear I'm gonna give you your friend back. I'm dead, not evil. Also," he turned to Patton, "is that a no?"

"Yes!"

"Wait, so you do wanna bang?"

"No!"

"Alright, alright, damn." Remus leaned Roman's body back, putting up his hands in a defensive gesture. "You know, I was gonna go full poltergeist and try to see if I could make you all cry, but I changed my mind when I saw Hot Pat-tato. Soooo, you're welcome."

"Yeah," said Virgil, "I'm not sure we should be thanking you for taking over our friend's body. Give him back, by the way."

"Wait!" said Patton. "Remus, why aren't you at rest? Is there something we can do to help you move on?"

"Nah," said Remus. "To be honest, I just wanted to haunt the crap out of some dumb college kids."

"Need I point out," Logan said, "that you are also a dumb college kid?"

Virgil looked around at the empty halls, walls of closed doors, the dusty spiderwebs hanging like streamers in the corners. "Wait. There's nobody to haunt."

"Yeah," said Remus. Roman's shoulders shrugged. "It's been kinda lonely and boring.

"Sucks to suck," Virgil said, brandishing the sealed vial of holy water. "Okay, time to go."

Remus sighed and crossed Roman's arms over his chest. "Fine. I didn't really want to haunt you guys anyway."

"I might…" Patton twisted up his mouth thoughtfully, rubbing his fingers along the quartz crystal in his pocket. "Maybe I'll come back and say hello sometime."

The grin that unfurled across Roman's face was so familiar that Patton nearly hugged him. But his eyes were still that slightly luminescent green, still twitching and rolling like he was trying to take in every detail of the world all at once. "Really?"

Patton nodded and held out his hand palm-up. Roman's hand was icy, but Patton forced himself not to flinch as he brought his head down and kissed Remus' knuckles. "Really."

For a moment, there was silence. Then came a gentle warmth, and confused brown eyes staring down at Patton, who only had time to gasp before Roman tilted his head in confusion. "Um, Patton? Why are you holding my hand?"

#you are contractually obligated to point out any formatting errors or typos #sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #intruality #college au #spicywrites #patton sanders #remus sanders #anyway i am forever entertained by the idea of ONLY projecting my idiosyncrasies onto the characters and none of my psychological trauma #hence the overshare about college #you can know every exact details of what i did from ages 18-21 but i will never ever tell you how my parents fucked me up #no bummers! funny shit only!

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andrewmoocow · 3 years

Text

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 25: Homeworld Bound (originally posted on September 13, 2021)

AN: Here it is everyone, the beginning of the final part of Steven Universe Alternate Future. Before we proceed, I just want to thank all of you for sticking by my side since December of last year and for all the comments & reviews I've been given. It really means the world to me that I'm getting this much attention. But enough heartfelt thank yous, let's get on with the heartbreak.

Synopsis: Afraid that his out-of-control powers will hurt his friends, Steven sees the Diamonds for help.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Sarah Stiles as Spinel

Aparna Nancherla as Lemon Jade

Patti LuPone as Yellow Diamond

Lisa Hannigan as Blue Diamond

Christine Ebersole as White Diamond

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst, Chert

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl, Volleyball, Aubergine Pearl

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper, Flint

Olivia Olson as Citrine

Christine Pedi as Holly Blue Agate

Hayley Kiyoko as Morganite

Charlyne Yi as Navy

Casey Lee Williams as Cat's Eye

Amy Sedaris as Blue Zircon

Ron Perlman as Steven's Inner Voice

The past few minutes have been some of the worst minutes of Steven's life. Not only did he accidentally take a life, but it was a life he was so sure he'd try to change in the past to little success. And now, the death of Jasper would weigh heavily on his shoulders as he dipped the shattered gem he was holding into the essence-infused bathwater.

"I'm sorry." Steven sobbed quietly while his tears dropped into the bathtub below him. Suddenly, as if the tears began reacting to the water, the Diamonds' essences began to glow at once and were absorbed into Jasper's gem, allowing the Gem warrior to regain her physical form and re-emerge in the bathtub.

"You-you shattered me." Jasper gasped while examining her broken horn and the breaks in her stripes before looking straight at Steven.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident!" Steven tried to apologize to Jasper. "I should've stopped, I just wasn't thinking!"

"No you weren't." a voice echoed in Steven's thoughts as Jasper stepped out of the bathtub and took a knee.

"I bow to your strength," Jasper declared while bowing her head in recognition of Steven's strength. "my Diamond."

"No!" Steven gasped in horror at what he's done.

"Ooh, this should be interesting." Steven's intrusive thoughts purred with intrigue at this new development.

"Are you in there Steven?" Pearl asked for Steven while knocking on the bathroom door.

"What's going on?" Amethyst added. "If you got any urges you want to let out, just don't gross Pearl out and make a mess of things."

"Amethyst, read the room." Garnet scolded the small Quartz. "Steven, please come out. We're sorry if you felt like we were intruding a few days ago, but you still need to talk to us somehow."

Just then, the three Gems heard footsteps as someone approached the other side of the door and hopefully cleared the way. But instead of Steven opening the door like they expected, it was instead Jasper.

"Wait, Jasper?!" Amethyst yelled in shock.

"What were you doing in there?" Pearl asked. "And where is Steven?!"

"Right here." Jasper answered, stepping aside to reveal a despairing Steven behind her as she gave the Diamond salute of old.

"Where have you been Steven?!" Amethyst asked Steven as he silently walked away and went up the stairs.

"You can't just disappear for three days and not tell us where you went!" Pearl cried out. "Words could not describe how absolutely scared we were for you! And now Jasper pops up out of nowhere and we're supposed to be okay with this?!"

"My Diamond can do as he pleases, peons." Jasper barked at the Crystal Gems. "He doesn't need you around anymore, just like how you don't need him around."

"Why are you calling him that?!" Amethyst yelled at Jasper before she began following Steven. "Steven!" she cried before shooting the bigger Gem a glare. "Just because we're sisters doesn't mean you're safe from the verbal thrashing I'm gonna give you soon."

"Like I care." Jasper rolled her eyes while the four Gems tailed Steven to the Warp Pad at the conservatory. "You've spent your lives following a liar yet when my Diamond refuses to reveal the truth, that's when you decide you need answers?"

As Steven was about to step on the Warp Pad, the Gems tried yet again to stop him. "Steven, wait!" Pearl yelled.

"You don't need to go." Garnet stated. When Steven decided to finally make a reply, he just sighed as he turned pink and began to form a barrier that separated him from the four Gems behind him.

"What the heck is going on!?" Amethyst screamed in shock before she, Garnet, and Pearl began banging on the shield.

"You guys, I know you want to help, but this is where it's gotta stop." Steven declared. "This whole time, I've been avoiding the only people in the universe that can help me now, so nobody follow me."

"I was right, he doesn't need you anymore!" Jasper laughed tauntingly before her pride soon turned to shock.

"You should stop following me too, Jasper." Steven said to the big Quartz, breaking her heart as she sorrowfully watched her Diamond abandon her yet again. "Go on and do something better with your life."

"Steven, before you go, please remember." Garnet urged Steven with a hand against the pink barrier. "We will always be your family."

"You never were." Steven growled as his shadow seemed to gain a mind of its own before he teleported away on the Warp Pad, the warp stream giving off a strange black aura before shutting off.

"Of course my Diamond doesn't want me anymore." Jasper bowed her head in shame and strolled off, but the Gems weren't done with her yet.

"Oh no you don't Jasper, you got some explaining to do!" Amethyst shouted while chasing after her Gem sister. "What were you doing in the bathroom, and what made you call Steven your Diamond?"

"Don't even bother asking me." Jasper sighed before she began to sing. "I tried teaching him a little tip, just three little words: get a grip. But thanks to him, I finally see, those words really do apply to me." As Jasper retreated into the bathroom, Amethyst and Pearl could barely hear her beginning to cry.

"Never seen her this emotional before." Garnet remarked. "And we've never heard her sing before either."

"I think we should just give her some space for a bit." Pearl suggested and realized what she just said. "Wow, that's the first time I've ever said that about Jasper, of all Gems."

"You think Steven meant what he said about us not being his family?" Amethyst asked as she sat down on the couch.

"I'm not sure." Garnet answered. "But there was something about him that I felt is taking control at the wrong moments, poisoning his mind even. Hopefully, he doesn't let this go out of control."

Far away from the galaxy Steven called home, the Warp Pad took him to the Gem Homeworld, and it was just as wildly different as he had seen it when he came here with the Off-Colors. Walking through the central city, he could see multiple Gems conversing while a propaganda video blared above him.

"Citizens of Homeworld, Black Rutile is still out there!" the familiar voice of Blue Zircon declared to her viewers while playing clips of Black Rutile's evil deeds, from her shattering of a Bismuth to her invasion of Earth. "Friends, lovers, even your own type could be a spy! I want you to report any and all suspicious activity to the nearest authority figure! Remember, Black Rutile will do anything to enslave our race, but my team and I are still working our hardest to find and stop her plans in their tracks!"

As soon as the clips stopped rolling, Blue Zircon herself appeared on screen with her arms folded and turned to the camera. "I'm Blue Zircon, and I approve this message."

The video ended with Blue Zircon striking a dramatic pose and Steven continued on his way, eventually reaching the Diamonds' throne room where a purple-colored Pearl was leading a tour group and a pair of Jaspers were having a conversation.

"I can't believe there are still Gems who think Zircon is a good candidate, even after her approval rating went down hard thanks to Black Rutile." One Jasper said about a poster of Yellow Zircon to her friend before gesturing to one of Blue Zircon. "Now Zircon, that's a face we can still trust!"

"As you can see, this truly was the center of the Great Diamond Authority's empire throughout the first and second eras." The aubergine Pearl stated to her tour group while gesturing to the Diamonds' massive thrones. "When walking through these storied halls, it can be easy to feel like you too are as mighty as a Diamond." As the Pearl began leading her group away, only three stayed behind. "Now then, if you'll follow me to the gift shop."

Steven recognized the three remaining Gems as Spinel, Volleyball, and that one green fusion from the Era 3 ball not too long ago, and they all were happy to see him. "Steven!" Spinel exclaimed with hearts in her eyes before leaping towards the boy and giving him a big, goofy kiss, accidentally setting the boy off.

"Spinel, what is wrong with you!?" Steven yelled angrily as he turned pink and pushed Spinel off of him.

"Oh, you know, the usual with me and my posse here." Spinel answered while gesturing to the other two Gems.

"How have you been since last we met Steven?" Volleyball asked.

"I've just been going through some things lately, especially after Black Rutile. I keep swelling up and turning pink." Steven answered. "Speaking of which, I've heard from Pearl you were forced to spy on us for her. Feeling alright?"

"I've been getting better." Volleyball wiped a tear from her cracked eye. "So what brings you here?"

"I need to see the Diamonds." Steven replied. "Can you take me to them?"

"No kidding!" Spinel exclaimed. "You've barely called or written to them, what gives?"

"He said he's been going through some things." The big green Gem said. "By the way, hi, Lemon Jade. Remember me from the ball when you and your human friend fused?"

"I'm sorry, but I barely remember." Steven admitted to Lemon Jade. "After Connie and I fused, the rest kinda went by so fast before we were thrown in the tower. And I think you were poofed too. Which reminds me, sorry for getting you in trouble."

"It's fine." Lemon Jade said. "Besides, ever since Era 3 began, we've been unbubbled and made a representative of all cross-Gem fusions on Homeworld. So it's been pretty good for me."

"And speaking of big changes." Spinel stated while turning to look at Citrine leading a chain gang of Holly Blue Agate, Morganite, Navy, and Cat's Eye into the throne room, all of them carrying mops.

"Okay you four, I want this floor sparkling by the time the next tour group comes in." Citrine commanded her four prisoners before turning to notice Steven. "Hey Steven, long time no see!"

"YOU!" Holly Blue yelled and tried to lunge towards Steven. "It's all because of you that I'm a criminal to my own kind! Once Black Rutile terminates you, she will set me free and I will finally be loved again!"

"Don't you mean set us free?" Morganite snarked at the Agate.

"Yeah, no need to make everything about you." Cat's Eye agreed with the pink Gem.

"You're one to talk." Navy rolled her eyes with a smirk.

"AAAAAHHHH SHADDUP!" Holly Blue shrieked to her fellow prisoners before Citrine jabbed her in the neck with a punch, causing her to fall over.

"Well, that just happened." Spinel said nervously as she wrapped her three friends with her arm and dragged them away. "So, if you're having issues with your physical form, I know just the Gem to help!"

Before long, Steven was dragged to a massive, yellow-colored workshop by Spinel, where Yellow Diamond was sitting down at a desk as big as she was as she reassembled a shattered Gem by plucking some of its pieces from a bubble containing an inactive Cluster Gem, as a nervous dull orange Gem watched.

"Just one last piece and you'll be good as new." Yellow muttered as she extracted one last piece from the bubble and placed it on a damaged gem, allowing the physical form of a bluish Gem to be restored, albeit with very stretched-out limbs. "Hm, needs a little work."

"Hey, it's okay Flint." The orange Gem comfortingly said to her frightened blue friend.

"Yellow, what are you doing?!" Steven cried out, startling the Diamond before she turned to see him.

"Oh Steven, you startled me!" Yellow said. "I was in the middle of reversing one of my experiments here." She demonstrated her work by picking up the Flint she just repaired and holding her in front of Steven and his three guides. "I couldn't put every piece back together, but here. Observe." With a tap on Flint's head, Yellow's lightning powers miraculously returned the smaller Gem's limbs to a more conventional length and she returned Flint to her friend.

"Look Chert, I'm back to normal!" Flint cheered as soon as she was returned to the desktop.

"Welcome back!" Chert replied and hugged Flint.

"After all the damage I've done these past couple thousand years, I believed the best way to use my powers for good was to fix the Gems I've shattered." Yellow explained to Steven. "Oh, that reminds me, I should make a note to patch up all the Gems making up the Cluster at some point! One more thing, if any of your Quartz friends back on Earth need their horns removed, just send them straight to me. I can permanently change their forms."

"Ooh, do me, do me!" Spinel excitedly ran up to Yellow and held out her arms to be altered while the Diamond reclined with her arm propping herself up

"Hey, I-" Steven tried to speak up, but Lemon Jade quickly cut him off.

"I know you want to speak, but I want to see what she does." Lemon Jade said before Yellow made Spinel's arms overly muscular with her powers.

"She can make my arms really big!" Spinel demonstrated with a flex of her temporary muscles, inciting a giggle from Volleyball. "And she can give me teeny little feetsies too!" Spinel tried to take a step with her incredibly small feet, only to fall over and make Volleyball laugh even louder while Steven got angrier at not being listened to.

"Won't any of you listen to me?!" Steven yelled in irritation.

"Oh sorry, I didn't notice you there Steven." Volleyball apologized.

"Then you have the floor." Yellow declared. "Penny for your thoughts, as Earth says?"

"I think something's wrong with my diamond powers." Steven explained his situation. "I've been turning pink whenever I get super mad, and I sometimes get real big, and I don't know what to do."

"Well, I believe I can help with that." Yellow suggested and held out a charged finger. "Hold still!" She then shrank Steven down to the size of a Ruby.

"No, I don't wanna be small!" Steven cried angrily.

"Okay, then I suppose you want to be larger!" Yellow reiterated before doing just that, angering Steven even more.

"I don't want to be smaller or larger," Steven roared while turning pink and creating a small crater beneath him with a stomp. "I WANT TO BE ME!" His roar sent everyone else in the room falling backwards before he was returned to his normal size by Yellow, who picked up Spinel to return her body to normal.

"What has gotten into you?!" Yellow asked in shock. "If anything's out of control, it's your temper!" She then took a quick moment to joke with Spinel. "Remind you of a certain someone?"

"Yeah, kinda." Spinel agreed with Yellow.

"Classic Yellow, so oblivious to the needs of others." Steven's intrusive thoughts butted in again while noticing the banter between the two Gems before him. "Exactly why your mother left them."

"Will you leave me alone already?!" Steven yelled, but to everyone else, it seemed like he was talking to himself.

"Is something else the matter?" Lemon Jade wondered.

"Sorry, I've also been having, well, it's harder to explain." Steven stated nervously.

"Well, you can be as big or as small as you want to, but your attitude tells me your issues aren't physical." Yellow deduced. "It has to be emotional. In fact, I think Blue Diamond might be better suited for this."

"Blue-Blue-Blue-Blue-Blue-BLUE!" Spinel cheered while zipping around Steven, Volleyball, and Lemon Jade in a circle.

In Blue Diamond's room, there wasn't much furniture to be found in the large glass dome other than many dark blue clouds that Gems were able to relax on, like Blue for instance.

"Your powers have been giving you dramatic mood swings?" the Diamond wondered soothingly. "That sounds awfully troubling Steven."

"You should've seen him with Yellow." Volleyball said. "She was trying to help, but he got really mad because he thinks she misunderstood what he said."

"But you don't seem that troubled yourself." Steven observed the room around him.

"That's because of Blue's new powers." Lemon Jade answered as she let herself sink into one of the clouds.

"Back before Pink came back into our lives through you Steven, I wanted everyone to feel the pain I had suffered." Blue explained. "But now, I realize that I'd rather bring joy to others."

"Oh please, blech!" Steven's inner self metaphorically rolled its eyes and made a gagging sound while Blue brought Steven closer.

"At that moment, my tears vaporized into these clouds, bringing pure joy to anyone they touch." Blue stated.

"They're certainly bringing me joy!" Volleyball moaned relaxedly as she curled up into a ball on one cloud. At that moment, another cloud brushed up against Steven and brought him the relief he was wanting for so long, if only for a few moments.

"She has ended lives all over for years, and only now she wants to actually be nice instead of looking nice?" the intrusive thoughts kept grumbling. "Though then again, there is no stopping you no matter how horrible the person."

"Trust us, just hang on and you'll be feeling the good vibes in no time!" Spinel eagerly advised Steven while saddling up on a cloud.

"I think you'd like it." Blue smiled before she began to sing. "Cold palace walls and empty, endless halls, haunted by echoes of laughter." While the song began, Steven began using his shields to push clouds away on the ground. "You gave a pull, and suddenly they're full. You've thrown the gates open after you."

Despite Steven's efforts, the clouds surrounded and formed underneath him, pushing the boy up into the sky as he smiled from its effects and was lifted into the air.

"And swept in with the throng, comes this wonderful song!" Blue continued singing as she rose through the clouds and looked up with her arms spread wide. "My little reason why, I'll never make you cry. Oh, I have got the sweetest things to tell you everyday." She then made little cloud hearts for Spinel to grab onto before beginning to swing from Blue's finger and hugging her head, while Steven's cloud floated on over to the pair, allowing Blue to hold it in her hand. "My little reason why, you make me want to try loving you."

Despite Blue's soothing number, Steven still felt sad despite all she tried to do and began turning pink again. "No no no, this isn't right!"

"My thoughts exactly." Steven's darker persona quipped. "Does she really think everything will be made better in an instant with some stupid song?"

Just then, Steven began to fall off his cloud and down towards the ground, but thankfully, someone was there to save him in the nick of time.

"Hang in there sunshine!" Spinel cried, grabbing Steven in her arms while using her legs like a propeller to fly him safely down to the ground.

"What's the matter?" Blue asked Steven as her cloud floated towards Steven and Spinel.

"Did the song not help?" Volleyball pondered while getting off her cloud.

"It thought it was very sweet." Lemon Jade added.

"I'm sorry, all of you." Steven apologized. "I know you all want to help, but you can't just magically make me feel better."

"Yes I can." Blue tried to be as reassuring as possible. "It's my new power. Plus, it's been kind of like your power for a long time now."

"I don't want to FEEL better!" Steven reiterated hotly while Spinel turned her hand into a pinwheel to blow on. "I want to BE better!"

"I found happiness," Blue stated. "If you think it's not something you deserve, then it must be a problem with your self-worth." Then, she got an idea. "In that case, maybe you should go visit White Diamond about it."

"Oh, White." Steven nervously repeated, not wanting to be reminded of one of his many near-death experiences.

"White Diamond, eh?" Steven's inner darkness once again butted in. "The Gem who basically got off scot-free for nearly killing you. I must say, did you ever instantly forgive her for all she's done like all the others?"

"No, none of them were instantly forgiven! Now leave me alone!" Steven shrieked back, leaving the four Gems confused at what's going on.

"Is he supposed to be talking to someone?" Blue wondered.

"This happened when we were with Yellow too." Spinel answered. "Either he's got an imaginary friend he really hates, or something worse."

Finally, there was White Diamond, whom Steven found meditating in her quarters when she opened her eyes to find him standing in front of her with Spinel, Volleyball, and Lemon Jade alongside him, and she was delighted to see him again. "Good to see you again Steven, and perfect timing too!" White greeted the son of Pink while standing up straight. "I've just gotten back from my most recent charitable escapades where I gave a voice to the little Gems, got the assistance of other species in repopulating our old colonies, and helped in weeding out Black Rutile's allies."

"Giving a voice?" Steven pondered what the eldest Diamond said.

"She basically lets Gems take control of her now, instead of the other way around!" Spinel explained for White.

"So like, the opposite of what you did to Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Volleyball?" Steven continued asking.

"I think something along those lines." Volleyball concurred.

"Well, why don't I show you?" White suggested before turning to Spinel. "Care to help me demonstrate, Spinel?"

Spinel let out a loud, excited squeal at the prospect of helping White show off for Steven, causing Volleyball to blush and laugh before the stretchy Gem calmed down. "Yes please." Spinel sweetly complied.

The two Gems then shut their eyes while the room began flashing various colors. Steven had no time to comprehend what was happening before White opened her eyes, revealing that her colors had now become just like Spinel's, and she had the playmate's voice too. "GUESS WHO?!"

"Agh, what is this?!" Steven yelped at how unsettling he found Spinel taking over White's body.

"Isn't it great?!" White and Spinel exclaimed in perfect sync. "Instead of taking control of other Gems, we can control her by channeling our thoughts into her body! As a matter of fact, watch this!" The two then launched into a crazy song and dance that began to shake the whole room, annoying and terrifying Steven even more.

"Even I have to admit, this is pretty terrifying." Steven's darker voice remarked in shock at what Steven was seeing.

"You don't like it?" Spinel asked Steven, taking note of his unnerved expression.

"You seem a little creeped out." Volleyball added.

"I-it's fine." Steven muttered before Spinel relinquished her control over White Diamond, allowing the Diamond to regain control of her body.

"Oh, what fun." White said. "Thank you for your time, Spinel. Now, why don't you and your friends leave the room for a moment while I have a word with Steven?"

"Okay then. See you later Steven." Lemon Jade said as she, Spinel, and Volleyball left White's quarters.

"Don't take too long you two." Spinel poked her head back in for a moment before the doors closed on her, while White turned her gaze to Steven.

"Now, what seems to be the problem exactly?" White asked the boy.

"Ever since Spinel first came to Earth, I feel like I've been getting way too powerful for my own good." Steven explained depressingly. "Random new abilities keep coming out of the blue and making a mess of things for me, and it's, it's making me scared."

"Oh Steven, I'm sure many humans of your age would dream to have your abilities, yet it only worries you." White lent a sympathetic ear. "Do tell me more."

"I'm scared that I'm gonna hurt people, though I guess I already have." Steven continued with his plight. "I keep pushing everyone away from me no matter how much they want to help, and I even," He let out a big sniff as he struggled to reveal a recent development to White. "I even shattered a Gem after going mad with power."

"Wait, shattered a Gem?! Seriously?!" White gasped in shock at how Steven of all people could do such a thing. "Which one was it?"

"You remember Jasper, right?" Steven asked.

"Barely, I've only seen her once recently, at the fountain." White answered. "She had her gem on her nose, right?"

"Yeah, I thought she would be a good mentor to help me get a handle on myself, but things only got worse." Steven replied. "After Black Rutile kept on lying to me about how I'll drive Jasper away like I did with everyone else, or something even worse, she kept feeding us more lies to turn us against each other, and then, and then." Steven couldn't compose himself any longer and was about to burst into a crying fit, but a gentle pat on the head from White's massive finger kept him sane for just a little longer.

"Half a Diamond, half an organic." White mused while sitting down and getting closer to Steven. "In all the universe, I don't think anyone else could know what you're going through, except yourself of course." She gave Steven a little poke. "Would you like to take me for a spin?"

"Okay." Steven began to wipe his eyes in agreement.

"Yes, this is what we need!" Steven's evil half declared excitedly. "Perhaps we could give this hag her just desserts."

With another shut of her eyes, White's room began flashing colors again while Steven began to felt himself getting linked to the massive Diamond before she began to turn various shades of pink, symbolizing that Steven was now in control.

"Whoa, this is so weird!" Steven and White exclaimed as they got a grasp on their shared mindset. "I'm, I'm," His excitement soon turned to shock as Steven began to realize what he had become. "I'm a Diamond."

"That's right." Steven's inner voice declared menacingly, symbolized through White's eyes becoming a pitch black. "The very thing you feared for so long. Isn't this what you wanted to see?"

"No, this is the last thing I ever wanted to see!" Steven yelled as he took back control of White. "Why won't you just go away?!" White smashed a pillar behind her with her fist, and the resulting debris nearly crushed Steven. "Don't hurt me!" Steven exclaimed in fear, when he made a haunting discovery. "Wait, she can't hurt me. I'm controlling her."

"Exactly, why are you so afraid?" the darker side of Steven asked as he took back control of White. "She should be afraid of us!"

Suddenly, Steven and White switched heights while the room turned dark and a booming, evil laugh could be heard. Thanks to being under Steven's control, White began cowering in terror.

"Wh-what's going on!?" White yelled in Steven's voice and tried to run, but she was quickly stopped by invisible chains latching onto her wrists and ankles as Steven lifted her up like a puppet.

"You treated your race like puppets for so long, it's time you see how they feel." Steven announced in a deep voice completely unlike his own. "So, what's it like being a mere plaything to the brat you've bullied for ages now?"

"No, stop, I don't like this!" White exclaimed while she was forcibly steered towards another pillar.

"TOO BAD!" the dark side of Steven cackled evilly while forcing the Diamond to grab onto the pillar and hold her head back.

"Let me go please, you're scaring me!" White screamed.

"This is for everything you put me through, and everyone else too!" Steven bellowed as he prepared to smash White's gemstone against the pillar, but there was something in him that held him back.

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" the evil voice within Steven commanded. "END HER MADNESS, END YOUR SUFFERING! DO IT!"

"Neither of you can control me!" the better man within Steven argued against shattering White once and for all. "Just stop this, I'm begging you!"

"Ignorant baby. Your pacifism will be the end of you!" the evil half snarled. "Fine, if no one else does what you want, you have to do it yourself!" Steven's inner voice took full control over Steven once again and prepared to kill White Diamond, letting out a haunting evil laugh as she was about to shatter herself by smashing her gem against the pillar. Unfortunately for him, the link between Steven and White was broken in the nick of time and the two woke back up in her destroyed sanctum.

"Steven, what happened?" White gasped in horror at what Steven seemingly threatened against her. "Who was that voice? And did you just try to-"

"I-I don't know!" Steven gasped just as terrified before swelling up and turning pink, causing him to run out of the room.

"Wait!" White cried out with an outstretched hand. "Please come back!"

As the larger, pinker Steven charged away from White Diamond's room, he happened to pass by the other two Diamonds and Spinel & her friends, who were aghast at his current state.

"Is this what he wanted to talk to me about?" Yellow asked Blue.

"I don't think humans can get tall so quickly." Blue commented while Spinel began to give chase, her legs turning into a figure 8 as she ran behind Steven.

"Yo Steven, did White help you?!" Spinel cried out for her half-human friend, causing him to stop and turn to her, giving Spinel a good idea of what happened by his current appearance alone. "Whoa, not cool, right?"

"Wait a second!" Steven realized as he returned to his normal self before shaking Spinel by the shoulders. "You and your friends were hurt by the Diamonds, how are you so calm?!"

"Oh yeah, they hurt us alright, but it's all pretty good." Spinel chuckled.

"How good exactly?" Steven asked.

"Well, it's all good thanks to Steven Universe!" Spinel beamed and she began to sing a familiar song. "That IIII-III-III, I can make a change!"

"Insipid hypocritical brat!" Steven's inner voice bellowed furiously. "Does she think she can make you feel all better with that same idiotic tune?" The inner voice's question immediately changed Steven's perspective of Spinel. Gone was the looney sweetheart, and right before him, Steven began to imagine the psychopath that poofed all his friends and nearly killed all organic life. "She's just like everybody else you've met! They think everything is okay despite all the horrible things they've done, and you just accept it! Go right on ahead, show her how she made you feel!"

"I can make a promise, I can make a plan!" Spinel kept on singing while Steven continued glaring at her for giving him his own advice. "I can make a difference, I can take a stand! I can make an effort, if I only understaa-aaand!" Once again, Steven's darker half began to take control, making Steven curl his hand up into a fist. "That III-III-I, I can make a-"

Spinel's musical reverie was quickly cut short when Steven punched her square in the face and sent her head flying back for a moment before it returned to the rest of her body in tears. "W-why did you do that?" Spinel sniffled and then began to sob loudly.

"No, it wasn't my fault!" Steven tried to defend himself and began blaming the real culprit "You!" he yelled at his inner voice. "Why did you make me hurt her?!"

"Isn't that what you wanted, to get the payback you wanted?" the voice replied with a metaphorical sneer just as Volleyball raced towards the crying Spinel.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright Spinel?!" the Pearl with the damaged eye asked Spinel.

"Steven hit me!" Spinel kept on sobbing as she pointed at Steven while the Diamonds and Lemon Jade joined Volleyball in comforting her.

"Steven did what!?" Yellow shrieked and glared right at Steven, who turned pink yet again as he ran away. "Steven, you get back here this instant and explain yourself! She just wanted to make you feel better!"

"All of you shut up and leave me alone!" Steven screamed while racing out of the palace, unknowingly leaving behind a sandal on the steps as he left.

"Oh crack, this is Pink all over again." White groaned before she, her fellow Diamonds and Spinel's gang followed Steven out of the palace just as he was about to get on a Warp Pad, where they noticed how eerily similar to the late Diamond he has quickly become.

"Please Steven, let us help you!" Yellow cried out.

"We're your family!" Blue added.

"No, you never were!" Steven cried in a raspier voice. "Just stop following me!"

"Steven!" White exclaimed, but they were too late. The former great authority's pleas fell on deaf ears and Steven finally left Homeworld behind, the warp stream once again revealing a formless black shape before disappearing. "Oh, dear."

"What's going on with him?" Lemon Jade nervously asked.

"I have no idea." Volleyball answered as the doors closed behind them.

"Yeah, it's like he's turned into a different person," Spinel added while drying her tears. "and an absolute jerk too."

"This isn't like Steven to hit someone like this." Yellow said while cradling Spinel in her hand. "Something is definitely wrong."

"I concur Yellow." White agreed with the younger Diamond. "When I allowed Steven to take over my body, I felt a strange presence within him that urged him to try and shatter me."

"What?!" Yellow and Blue shouted in unison.

"This has got to be a result of human growth, I'm sure of it!" Blue paced around the halls. "What is it his father called it again, pub-erty?"

"Something along those lines." White said. "While I've been told young humans undergoing this process do have mood swings, I don't think violent urges are among those moods."

Meanwhile on Earth, Jasper had returned to lying in the bathtub where she was resurrected, and she was now crying her eyes out after being rejected by Steven. Losing her Diamond in battle was bad enough for her, and learning she was Rose Quartz all along thus making everything she worked for all a lie was even worse, but getting her back only to be abandoned once again was the final straw.

"Why does this planet hate me so?" Jasper quietly sobbed to herself. "I was only following orders, what does the rock I was created on have against me?"

Just then, Jasper could barely hear a Warp Pad go off, signaling that someone had come to the beach house. However, she chose not to bother seeing who it was, even as someone opened the door.

"Hello, anyone in here?" Steven, the boy who had basically ruined Jasper's life, asked while poking his head into the bathroom. It was dark in the room, so he could barely make out the shape of Jasper's hair lying in the tub, and he closed the door again.

I apologize in advance for all the heartbreak in this chapter and all chapters going forward. We're gonna get into some intense stuff here, perhaps even more intense than the gaslighting and pet loss of the previous part. And you're all still here for it, you lovable sadists. Anywho, join us next time for Everything's Fine! Oh wait, everything won't be fine.

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #steven quartz universe #garnet #amethyst #pearl #jasper #yellow diamond #blue diamond #white diamond #spinel #pink pearl #lemon jade

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callboxkat · 5 years

Text

Infinitesimal (part 49)

Author’s note: It feels like forever since I’ve posted a written chapter, even though it hasn’t even been that long. I guess I’ve just really gotten used to these weekly updates, huh?

Warnings: food mention, injury, illness, mentions of being trapped, mild fear

Word count: 3303

Masterpost!

...

Early the next morning, Logan got up to prepare himself for the day. He would have preferred not to have to work this early during finals week, but at least he didn’t need to be at the school until the afternoon. He would have about two hours free to get some lunch and go over his notes one more time. And, thankfully, this was the last day of exams. After that, the break from school would officially begin.

Once he’d brushed his teeth, showered, and gotten dressed, Logan made his way to the kitchen to put together some breakfast for himself and for the “mouse-men”. He grabbed a saucer from the cabinet and a few bottle caps from the rack beside the sink. The saucer he piled with granola, two raspberries, and part of a napkin, leaving plenty of room for the bottle caps and miniature silverware. Logan filled one bottle cap with water, and he put a small dollop of yogurt in each of the others.

For himself, Logan put together a bowl of yogurt, raspberries, and granola, similar to what he’d put together for their guests. He left his meal at the kitchen table for the moment, and picked up the saucer.

Careful not to spill anything, Logan walked up to the living room, pausing in the doorway. From where he stood, Logan could see the “mouse-men” laying down on their table in a tangle of limbs and blankets. As usual, Emile was in the repurposed bracelet box; but this morning, both Patton and Virgil appeared to be lying on top of its lid. Logan wasn’t sure how they’d found the space, but they appeared comfortable.

There was a calm, peaceful atmosphere in the room. Logan’s CD player was still running, as he’d set it to loop, spilling soft, classical music into the air. Morning light filtered in through the curtains, casting a yellowish glow over everything. If only Logan could ignore why the tiny people were there in the first place.

Meanwhile, Logan, his fist already raised to knock on the door frame, hesitated. He couldn’t tell for sure if any of the “mouse-men” were awake; and if they were, he wasn’t sure if they would be able to hear his quiet knocking over the music. He could knock more loudly to account for that, but doing so would likely wake any of them who were asleep. It was true that, in the past, Logan had used to knock to wake Patton in the mornings before he brought in his breakfast, but he wasn’t sure if trying to do that now was a good idea. If Virgil was asleep, waking him now would probably only increase the dislike that that “mouse-man” held for him. More than that, though, Logan didn’t want to disturb Emile. He was clearly frightened of Logan and his roommate, and he was only just beginning to recover from his ordeal. He needed rest, not to be startled awake for the sake of some yogurt and raspberries.

Logan would have just left, content to let the “mouse-men” sleep in as late as they desired, but he didn’t want to force them to go without breakfast simply because his job had requested that he come in at an early hour.

The answer to Logan’s conundrum, of course, was obvious. He looked down at the saucer in his hands and sighed through his nose.

…

A quiet knock on the door roused Roman from sleep. He grumpily rolled over and looked at his clock, squinting at the numbers glowing there. It was still far too early for him to have to get up, especially since he didn’t have any exams, or even a shift at work today. What did Logan want? A part of Roman wanted to ignore his roommate, to pretend he hadn’t heard the knock, but he knew that he should probably humor him. There was the possibility, after all, that it was important. Roman let out a long sigh as he sat up and patted down his bedhead.

“Enter,” he called as dramatically as his asthmatic lungs would currently allow.

The door opened with a click, and Logan stepped inside. He was already dressed for the day in his typically overly professional attire. Would it kill the guy to wear a hoodie once in his life?

“Good morning,” he said casually, moving to stand next to Roman’s nightstand. “How are you feeling?”

“Marvelous,” Roman said, glancing somewhat pointedly at the clock. “Even at this… early hour.”

“Yes, of course,” Logan said. “My apologies. I have to go in to work early because of an exam this afternoon.”

“Right, that.” Roman covered a yawn. “Gross.”

“I’m not sure that is the most astute adjective to describe the situation, but I share your sentiment.” He stepped forward, ignoring the way Roman rolled his eyes, and picked up one of the rocks in the box on the table. “This is a very visually appealing sample of quartz,” he commented, inspecting the translucent blue crystal in the light, “albeit clearly dyed.”

“Oh, who cares if… it’s dyed, you spoil sport? Just admit you think it’s pretty… and be done with it.”

Logan dropped the crystal back in the box, where it clinked against the other colorful members of Roman’s collection. “Fair enough,” he said with a single nod. “Anyway. I have a favor to ask of you. The “mouse-men”, as you insist on calling them—”

“You know it’s accurate.”

“—are still asleep, and I need to go to leave in a few minutes.” He glanced down to check the time on his phone as if to emphasize his point.

Roman sat up straighter, suddenly very interested in where this was going. “Ah,” he said, smiling, “so you’ve come… to request my aid, have you?”

Logan sighed. “Yes, I suppose you could view it that way. I merely wanted to ask if you’d be willing to drop off their breakfast in a couple of hours. At nine, let’s say. I’ve already prepared it, and you won’t have to do anything. Just give it to them, come back here, and rest.”

Roman huffed, annoyed. He flung his arms out, gesturing pointedly at his surroundings: the bed he was sitting in, the blankets, the pillows, the phone sitting firmly on the bedside table and not in his hand. “I am resting!” he whined. Logan wasn’t the boss of him, but still. It wasn’t fair to nag him to do something he was already doing.

“Alright, alright.” Logan held up a placating hand. “So, you’ll do it?”

Roman dropped his arms. “Yeah, ’course I will, nerd.” He gave Logan a somewhat smug grin. “I’ll gladly… take the excuse to see… those little guys again.”

Logan snorted, probably thinking of the fact that Roman had seen the mouse-men only two days ago, but Roman just grinned wider.

“You can find their food on the middle shelf of the fridge, next to the eggs.”

“Gracias, mi amigo.”

Logan put his hand on the door knob. “I’ll see you this afternoon, then.”

“Byyyyeeeee,” Roman called, leaning over to watch Logan as he shut the door.

…

Patton woke up to the sound of classical music and the feeling of softness wrapped around him. He sighed contentedly, snuggling further into the warmth he was cuddled against. That warmth shifted in turn, prompting Patton to make a soft, confused noise. After a second, he remembered what—or rather, who—was currently serving as his pillow.

“You awake, Virge?” Patton murmured without opening his eyes. He couldn’t see Virgil’s face to tell, and if Virgil was asleep, he didn’t want to accidentally wake him.

He waited a few seconds; but if Virgil answered, Patton didn’t hear it. He opened his eyes and lifted up his head, blinking groggily. The blankets pulled over his shoulders fell back as he moved.

Virgil was still asleep, practically underneath Patton, his lips just slightly parted and his dark hair mussed. Just past him lay Virgil’s brother Emile, asleep where he was partially sitting up against a pile of folded fabric. His and Virgil’s hands had come apart sometime during the night.

Looking at Emile, Patton couldn’t help but feel sad. A couple of red spots showed through the bandages on his head, which Patton guessed that the humans would want to change today. The purplish bruises mottling the right side of his face were starting to turn green in some places. Patton knew that that meant they were healing; but looking at them, even the few of them he could see from this angle, still made his heart hurt. Patton averted his eyes.

At least the humans were helping them, and Patton’s friends were both getting some sleep. And it was reassuring to Patton that they were all together, supporting each other, and that it seemed things would get better. Despite everything, Patton actually felt almost… safe. The circumstances could have been much better, and they weren’t home, but it could have been worse. It could have been much, much worse.

“We’ll be okay,” Patton breathed, reassuring himself as he settled back down. He pulled the blankets back up to cover himself more fully, rested his head back against Virgil’s shoulder, and closed his eyes.

“We-ah… cris… ems,” a voice mumbled.

Patton cracked open one eye, his lips twitching in what could be called a smile. Emile was talking in his sleep again. He listened for a few moments, but other than a soft “nnn” sound, Emile didn’t say anything else. Patton hoped he was having a pleasant dream.

Feeling a bit more content now, Patton yawned and snuggled closer to Virgil.

He shifted one of his legs to get comfortable, then froze at a soft, pained sound from just beside his head. A guilty feeling sank into Patton as he realized that he must have bumped into Virgil’s bad foot.

“Sorry,” he whispered, his face hot. Virgil didn’t answer, so Patton lifted up his head again, frowning. Was Virgil upset with him? Patton didn’t accidentally hurt Virgil’s foot often, but on the one or two occasions that he had, Virgil would usually reassure him it was okay as soon as it happened. So why wasn’t he saying anything now?

Patton looked towards his friend’s face, his eyebrows drawing together in concern, then relaxed at the sight that met him. Virgil’s eyes were still shut. He hadn’t even woken him. Relieved, Patton released his breath and laid his head back down.

Although it was reassuring that Virgil hadn’t woken up, Patton hadn’t thought he’d bumped Virgil’s foot hard enough to hurt him. He’d just barely brushed against it, really, at most. Usually, something like that alone wouldn’t bother him unless his foot was already hurting. Patton bit his lip, wondering if Virgil had aggravated his injury somehow. Maybe wanting to stay close to Emile wasn’t the only reason he was avoiding getting up any more than necessary.

Virgil wasn’t usually one to complain when his leg was bothering him; and if his foot was paining him, he was probably even more motivated to avoid saying anything about it with Emile hurt. Patton couldn’t blame him for that. Patton wasn’t feeling 100% either, to be honest, although he was definitely feeling much better than when he’d needed Roman’s help to get down from the shelf.

Of course, it wasn’t as if Patton was actually hiding the fact that he was still sick from Virgil. Virgil obviously remembered when he’d passed out, when he’d had to resort to being carried to get down to the table where they had been hoping to be reunited with Emile. He remembered the previous two months of slowly working up to where Patton was on a good day. Partially because of that, and partially because of the situation, Patton didn’t see the point of bringing it up. Virgil had enough on his plate, and Patton was fine, anyway. He’d nearly recovered from their desperate search for Emile.

Virgil would probably argue something similar about priorities; but, regardless, Patton couldn’t help but worry. He wanted to check in with Virgil, to make sure he was alright. Perhaps Patton was a hypocrite, but he wanted to know if something was bothering his friend.

But… that was a matter for later, he told himself. For now, he should just let Virgil and Emile sleep. Patton sighed, closing his eyes, deciding to try to just enjoy the moment for what it was. This warm, sleepy morning, curled up beside his best friends in the world, beside his family. That wasn’t so bad.

…

At nine o’clock on the dot, Roman walked up to the entrance to the living room. He held the mouse-men’s breakfast in one hand, using the other to help keep the blanket in place around his shoulders. His approach was hesitant, unsure if the mouse-men would be awake yet, but as he reached the doorway, a little head popped up and looked in his direction. It was Patton, who was lying furthest from the doorway. As far as Roman could tell, the others were still asleep. Patton himself didn’t look overly inclined to move, which Roman couldn’t blame him for. He looked pretty cozy where he was.

Roman stepped just inside the room, doing his best to dampen the slight wheeze that his breaths still held. He didn’t want to alarm Patton or accidentally wake anyone up with the noise.

Patton lifted up one hand to wave, and Roman’s heart warmed at the silent greeting. He smiled and held up the saucer of food temptingly, silently offering it to the mouse-man.

Patton hesitated, glancing down at Virgil and Emile. A few seconds went by where he seemed to be debating, but then he bent down to murmur something to Virgil, who stirred and blinked awake. The other mouse-man listened to Patton for a second, then looked sharply towards Roman. He pushed himself up on one elbow, but not enough to force Patton to move. Patton whispered something else then, waiting for Virgil’s response before he finally looked back up at Roman and nodded shyly.

Roman walked closer, very aware of his footfalls on the carpet. Thankfully, the flooring and his slippers helped to muffle any sound and dull any vibrations. Still, he was careful, well aware of how magnified any noises he made probably seemed to their tiny guests.

“Hi,” Patton whispered as he neared. He yawned, stretching out his tiny limbs as he did so. Even his tail, which just barely poked out from under the blankets, briefly uncurled to its full length.

Roman was suddenly very glad that his dark complexion didn’t show blushes, because that sight was too adorable for words. He couldn’t help the way his smile widened, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

Movement just to Patton’s right drew Roman’s attention. Virgil was watching him with those sharp, dark eyes of his. Even laying down, five inches tall, and with a bedhead, he managed to seem threatening. Roman tried to give him a reassuring smile, but Virgil looked unimpressed.

Roman didn’t trust himself to be able to say anything aloud to either Patton or Virgil—not without waking Emile. Instead, he simply slipped the saucer onto the closest edge of the table, as far as possible from the “mouse-men”. He hoped they liked yogurt and raspberries. He also hoped that Virgil wouldn’t threaten to murder him for approaching while he was asleep, even if Patton had woken him up before Roman came more than a couple of steps into the room.

While the more volatile mouse-man didn’t trust the human as far as he could throw him (which was definitely not very far), he clearly did trust Patton. And Patton seemed to trust Roman, if only a little bit.

As Roman took a step backwards from the table, one of his wheezing breaths came out more loudly than he intended. Patton’s face pinched in concern at the sound. Roman didn’t know whether he was happy or sad about that. Rather than trying to explain, he just smiled to show that he was okay; and he quietly left the room.

…

That afternoon, Logan once again knocked on Roman’s door.

Roman paused the show he was watching on his phone and sighed. “Yeah?” he asked.

The door opened, and Logan stood there. He looked a little disconcerted.

Roman frowned. “Logan?”

“Hello. Yes. Sorry, I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Um, sure.” Roman coughed. “If it’s about the mouse-men… I gave them their breakfast.” He blinked. “Wait, did you want me… to give them lunch, too? Because I thought—”

“No, no,” Logan said. “I came back here before my final.”

“Oh.” Roman let out a relieved breath. “Well, then what’s up, doc?” He mimed biting a carrot.

“I was just wondering… do you think other people know about the—about the “mouse-men”?” When Logan said the word, the quotes around the phrase were clear.

Roman pushed one of the pillows behind his back into a more comfortable position. “I mean, maybe? Probably, I guess.”

Logan glanced to the side.

“I don’t think it’s a lot,” Roman clarified. “You know… they’re pretty secretive.”

Logan nodded.

“What’s this about?”

“Nothing. I just had a weird encounter today.”

Roman set his phone to the side. “What kind of weird encounter?”

“The details aren’t important, I suppose,” Logan said, adjusting his tie. “Just a young woman who said some odd things.”

“Okay.”

“I just wonder if…” Logan shrugged. “I just wonder about any other “mouse-men” out there. If they’re safe. It’s clear that the three we know have been through quite a lot, and I seriously doubt they are the only ones who exist. The odds are that there are many, many more.”

Roman shrugged. He’d thought about that too, but… “Well, we can’t help them all, Lo. I think we’re doing pretty good… all things considered, don’t you? I’m not… saying we haven’t messed up, but we could do worse. We saved Patton and Emile, didn’t we?”

Logan met his eyes. “Yes. I suppose you’re right.”

…

A couple of days passed relatively uneventfully. The littles saw the humans occasionally, mostly at mealtimes, and mostly just Logan. It seemed Roman was still under the weather.

They had changed Emile’s bandages again in that time. It was thankfully much less painful and heartbreaking than the first time, but it still hurt to see Emile flinch when the bandages were removed, and to see what was underneath.

But he was healing.

They had also checked on Emile’s tail, and with each time, they grew more convinced that Emile really could feel it. It wasn’t as well as before, at least not yet, but it made them all happy to see his progress.

Meanwhile, somewhat against his own will, Virgil found himself growing used to being with the humans. Nearly a week had passed by now, and they hadn’t tried anything.

While he loathed to admit it, Virgil was grateful to them. They had saved his brother, after all. They had reunited his little family. There had been no talk of cages, and they had been giving the littles plenty of food. At this rate, Virgil was going to start putting on some weight.

Of course, he was still staying alert, not letting himself get too comfortable. They still didn’t know what would happen once Emile was well enough to leave. Would the humans try to make them stay? Was their kindness an elaborate ploy to convince the littles that it was their own choice? Sure, Roman had allowed Patton to leave before, but that didn’t mean they would let him escape again. Humans couldn’t be trusted.

And yet.

The cognitive dissonance of this whole situation made Virgil’s head hurt.

136 notes · View notes

azvolrien · 4 years

Text

Fifteen Years at Dun Ardech

Like the little series about Asta in Stormhaven, this is more a collection of slice-of-life vignettes than a single story; unlike them, it didn’t end up quite as long in total, so I’m posting them in one big lump.

I’ll upload a little cheat-sheet for the names of the months tomorrow.

~~~

12th of Sirakithi, AI 2740

Asta set the pencil aside and lifted the knife. The edge was sharp, and the point fine enough; it would do. Perhaps she could neaten it up later, once she had determined whether the principle of her idea was sound. With her tongue between her teeth, she laid the knife point against the stencil and made the first cut: a circle as perfect as she could manage, forming a ring around the centre of the piece of wood, itself a hand-sized disc as thick as her thumb and still with bark around the edges. She ran the knife around the stencil a few times until the circle was inscribed deeply into the surface.

Movement in the corner of her eye and the creak of the bench told her Roan had sat down beside her, but she didn’t look up from her work and Roan did not speak.

Time for the second cut. Asta put down the circle stencil, lifted a metal ruler instead, and scored a line across the wood and through the exact centre of the ring, then a second line dividing the ring into perfect quarters. She nodded, sheathed the knife, and checked her notes.

“What are you doing?” asked Roan.

“Well, it’s a bit of an experiment, really,” said Asta, tapping a fingernail against the runes neatly written in dark blue ink. “I’m not completely sure if this will work – and I’ll need a little help from you a bit later on.”

“Mm-hmm. So what are you trying to do, then?”

“One minute, my love.” Asta picked the knife back up and, with the point, carefully carved out the first of the required runes in the middle of the first quarter.

“I have a proper chisel you can use for that,” offered Roan.

“Maybe for some later refinements,” said Asta. “This is working for now.” Roan nodded and sat back, folding her arms and crossing her ankles.

More runes joined the first, one in each quarter of the circle then more outside the rim, on either side of where the dividing lines crossed it. Asta held it up to eye level, blew away the wood shavings, and nodded again. Finally, she reached down to her feet and picked up a small pebble, the perfect white quartz worn into a smooth oval about an inch long and slightly flatter on the underside, then took a pen from behind her ear.

“I haven’t seen you with that pen before,” said Roan. “Looks fancy.”

“It’s a Constructist’s pen,” explained Asta, uncapping it and carefully drawing over all the lines she had carved, before just as carefully drawing more lines onto the surface of the pebble and dividing it into quarters like the circle. The greyish ink glittered oddly on the white stone. “Calburn – you remember I told you about him – gave it to me as a present for my last birthday.”

“When is your birthday?” asked Roan with sudden concern.

Asta grinned at her. “You haven’t missed it if that’s got you worried. The eighth of Rivedi – not for a while yet. What about yours?”

“Twenty-sixth of Voynithi.”

“Ha!”

Roan frowned, not angrily. “Wh-why is that funny?”

“Well – by the traditions up here, as a berserker you’re called a Child of Torravon.”

“The old Sea Loch war goddess, yes.”

“So it’s interesting that that was when you were born, since – well, the twenty-sixth of Voynithi is usually right in the middle of the festival of Voynazhret, the festival of the Kiraani war god.” Asta shrugged. “Whether or not Torravon and Voynazh are just different aspects of the same overarching war deity is something for the priests to argue about, but if that’s when you were born, maybe you really do have their blessing.”

“I… couldn’t say,” said Roan thoughtfully. “So what’s special about that pen again?”

“Oh, yes. It contains a special metallic ink. You see, for constructs and associated magics, pretty much any medium – well, not any medium, but you know what I mean – will work in the short term. You can turn an ordinary kite into a messenger construct if you know the right runes to draw, but wood and cloth just don’t hold the enchantment properly and it’ll wear off after a while, anything from a couple of days to a few weeks. For a long-term enchantment you need to work in metal and stone – specifically crystalline stone, very solid with low porosity. Which is where you come in!” Asta held up the pebble. “Crystals are fantastic at holding magic. So – if it’s all right – I’d like you to put a little bit of magic into this stone. Not a lot, just, say… as much as you’d use to summon a witchlight for reading.” She handed it over. “Don’t worry about smudging the ink; it dries quickly.”

A faintly uncomfortable look had appeared on Roan’s face, but she clasped the pebble between her hands and closed her eyes in concentration. Nothing visibly happened.

“I… think that’s it,” said Roan.

Asta nodded and took the pebble back. “The moment of truth, then.” She placed the pebble in the centre of the wooden disc and rotated it until the lines matched up. Immediately the pebble began to glow with a soft white light. Holding her breath, Asta moved the pebble again so the markings were out of alignment, then back again. The light faded and reappeared accordingly. “Yes!” Asta punched the air, making Roan jump. “It worked!”

“You were making a lamp?” asked Roan, smiling.

“The broch’s very cosy,” said Asta, “but it also doesn’t have any windows. I can’t always be pestering you for a witchlight when I want to do some reading, but candles don’t give a very good light for it. Hence: pebble light!”

Roan leant in to plant a kiss on her hair. “The gods were brutal not to give you magic of your own.”

Asta shuffled closer and rested her head on Roan’s shoulder. “Whichever gods they were.”

---

18th of Sirakithi, AI 2740

After the seventh time Roan came down the stairs, ran out to her workshop, and rushed back upstairs with various materials in her arms, Asta closed her book with a snap and sat up on the couch.

“What are you doing up there?” she asked. Roan stopped with one foot on the bottom step. “I’ve never seen you so full of beans.”

�� Roan started climbing the stairs again. “I’ll show you in a wee while!” she called from halfway up them, out of sight. “I’m nearly done.”

Asta smiled, shook her head, and went back to her book. After another ten minutes, Roan’s heavy booted footsteps clumped against the wooden boards overhead and – far less excitably than before – descended the stairs. She crossed the room from the stairway door and sat down at Asta’s feet at the opposite end of the couch, wringing her hands.

“Are – are you all right?” asked Asta.

“Oh, aye, aye. I was just thinking about something… Something you said earlier.”

“…Roan, if anything I’ve said upset you, I’m sor-”

“No, it’s nothing like that,” said Roan, brushing the apology aside with one hand. “But – you remember when you made your wee lamp?” She pointed at it on the end table beside Asta, with no sign of deterioration to the pebble’s glow.

“Of course.”

“When you got me to put the magic in the stone, you said to use as much as I would for a reading light. Well, I… I don’t. Conjure lights for reading, I mean. Because I don’t… I don’t read.”

Asta blinked. “But – I know you went to university. How could-”

“It’s… Look.” Roan picked up another book Asta had left on the couch – High Master Rathlean’s The Making of Constructs – and opened it to a random page. “What does the first sentence on this page say?”

Asta glanced at it. “‘The exact ingredients and proportions of spell-fluid will vary depending on the size and purpose of the intended construct.’”

“See, I can’t do that. Just… look at a page of writing and see what it says. Something just doesn’t click in here.” She prodded her forehead with a fingertip. “I have to go through it slowly, one word, sometimes one letter at a time, or it just… doesn’t make sense. So I can read, yes, but it doesn’t come easily to me, so it’s not something I do for fun. But you do! You brought your books with you when you came back here, and if there’s nothing else that needs your attention you’re always reading even if it’s a book I know you must have read before. And you… probably don’t want to just leave them in a stack all the time, so I…” She bowed her head until her chin touched her chest and mumbled something unintelligible.

Asta leant closer. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I said – well, just come upstairs for a minute.”

Asta marked her place with the dust jacket, put the book down, and followed Roan upstairs to the bedroom. She had rearranged it a little, moving aside some rugs and the laundry basket to make room against one wall.

Roan leant on the wardrobe and pointed across the room, looking at the floor. “I built a bookcase for you.”

There were four shelves made of flat, neatly-sanded wooden boards, evenly spaced by supports made from pine logs stripped of bark but still fragrant. On the top shelf, Roan had placed two little statues of polished stone – one a seal, the other an otter – to act as bookends.

“You – you can rearrange the books any way you like,” said Roan as Asta knelt beside the shelves for a closer look. “I wasn’t sure what order you’d want them in, so I made sure the shelves are all far enough apart for the tallest book to stand up, and that it’ll stay steady even if you put the heavy ones on the top shelf.” Asta didn’t reply; Roan frowned, straightened up from her slouch against the wardrobe, and crossed the room to stand behind her. “Asta?”

Trembling slightly, Asta took a deep breath, got to her feet, turned to face Roan, and tackled her onto the bed.

“Well,” gasped Roan when they came up for air a few minutes later. “I think there was a ‘thank you’ in there somewhere.”

---

6th of Gracilis, AI 2740

Roan was singing to herself in her workshop – an old Sea Loch folksong about bringing in the catch of the day. Asta paused on the path to listen. Roan had a good singing voice, a warm, clear alto similar to her usual speaking tone, but even after months together Asta couldn’t persuade her to sing with any sort of an audience. She waited until the song was over before she steeled herself and rapped her knuckles against the door. It wasn’t latched, and swung open at her touch. She held a precautionary sleeve over her nose, but it didn’t stink as much as it sometimes did.

“Something the matter?” asked Roan, looking over her shoulder. “You don’t usually come in here.” She was scraping the flesh off a large fox pelt stretched out on a board, and while a leather apron protected her clothes, her hands were red to the wrists.

Asta dragged her eyes away from the blood and sat down on a chair by the door. “Nothing’s wrong, no – but there was something I wanted to ask you about. A couple of somethings, actually.”

“Something so urgent you made yourself come into my workshop?” said Roan. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I thought I should ask before I forgot about it… or lost my nerve.” Roan gave her an encouraging nod and turned back to the pelt. “So, first something… Will you teach me to fight?”

“What brought that on?” asked Roan.

“I – look, I know I don’t exactly have what you’d call a… a warrior temperament.”

“You don’t need to say that like you’re ashamed of it,” said Roan, still scraping.

“I’m not, not really. But I – I’d like to be able to protect myself a bit better. So – will you teach me?”

“Aye, I’ll give you a few self-defence tips.” She glanced back over her shoulder and grinned. “Tip number one: if you can, run.”

“Well, that’s a good start.”

“We can do some more later, once I’m done with this pelt for today.” Roan paused and considered it. “This should be a good one once I’ve finished preparing it. I was going to sell it out at the market, but would you like a new hat for the winter?”

Asta sat up slightly. “That would be nice, actually – but please don’t leave the mask on it.”

Roan gave her a thumbs-up and kept scraping. “What else did you want to ask about?”

“This might be a taller order, but… The next time you go hunting, not just checking the traps but taking your bow and going up into the hills for a few days… Can I come with you?”

“If you’re sure you want to, but – why?”

Asta sighed and laced her fingers, looking down at her hands. “It’s not that I enjoy hunting – I don’t really have an outdoorswoman temperament either – but I… I don’t like being left on my own here with just the chickens for company.” She raised a hand to her forehead and dug her fingers into her hair. “It… gives me bad thoughts. And – and if I came too, you’d be able to use Pardus to carry more stuff!”

“We’re going to have a chat about that ‘bad thoughts’ comment later,” said Roan quietly. “But of course you can come too. To be honest with you, I don’t like leaving you here either – not since I came back to find you’d been kidnapped, and I’d only been gone for a couple of hours that time! I hadn’t planned on going hunting for another couple of weeks, but – aye. We can set up the chicken feeder and head out together.” She paused again and cast an eye over Asta’s clothing. “You’ll need to wear trousers, though. Skirts aren’t very practical up on the hills.”

Asta looked down at her skirt. “I don’t think I have any trousers.”

Roan laughed. “You can borrow a pair of mine. I love you, but – picking ticks off your legs is not a task I’d look forward to.”

“Oh. Yes, that’s understandable.” Asta turned her gaze to the fox pelt, curiosity taking over now that the shock of the blood had passed. “So… What’s the next step once you’ve finished scraping it?”

“The skin? Well, first I buff it up a little with that stone there,” Roan nodded towards a smooth lump of granite sitting on the nearest workbench, “and then it’s time for the first coat of, um, oil.”

“Why did you hesitate there?”

“The oil is made out of… its brain.”

“Oh, eurgh,” said Asta, half laughing. “Really?”

“Aye, it makes for a nice soft pelt. And the amounts work out pretty evenly at one brain per skin, so nothing’s wasted.” She grinned over her shoulder again. “Still want that hat?”

---

10th of Messis, AI 2743

Asta crawled out of the tent and straightened up, stretching out her back. The camp was sheltered among some huge boulders on the high, windswept plateau above Loch Gorm, and a small copper kettle was already boiling on the campfire. Asta rescued it and poured out some water for a morning cup of tea. “Roan?”

“Up here.” Her hushed voice came from the top of one of the boulders.

Asta circled the boulder and clambered up to join her, by some small miracle not spilling any of her tea on the way. “What’s the matter?”

Roan pressed a finger against her own lips, staring intently to the north-east where a high, steep-sided ridge rose up, its craggy summit rounded by the same long-gone glacier that had smoothed the plateau and dropped the boulders. In the far distance beyond it, the higher, sharper peaks of the Dragon’s Teeth were just visible on the horizon, black and white with stone and snow. Though it was only early autumn, a few patches of snow still clung in sheltered hollows on the ridge, and the wind from the north cut like a knife; Roan had the hood of her cloak up against it, the seal skull resting on her head. Asta pulled her coat tighter and wished she hadn’t left the fox-fur hat in the tent.

A pair of binoculars sat on the stone between them. Asta sipped her tea as quietly as she could. “What are you looking at?” she whispered.

“On the ridge over there,” said Roan just as quietly. “Towards the left, about halfway up, there’s a wee tree sticking out at a funny angle. You see it?” Asta nodded. “Just above that tree – on the rock face.”

Asta shaded her eyes. “There’s – something moving?”

Roan picked up the binoculars and held them out without looking away. Asta took them, found the tree through the lens, and slowly pointed them upwards until the moving object came into sight. Then she almost dropped the binoculars.

“That’s a-”

“Yup.”

“But they’re supposed to live-”

“Uh-huh.”

Asta cleaned the lenses on the hem of her woollen jumper and lifted the binoculars back to her eyes as if that might change the view. “…What is a snow leopard doing this far out of the Dragon’s Teeth?”

“No idea. Maybe it’s lost. But isn’t it beautiful?”

Asta watched through the binoculars as the cat picked its way across the cliff face, leaping nimbly from one tiny ledge to the next until finally it reached the top and disappeared over the ridge. “Yes,” she breathed. “It is. The menageries in Kiraan and Stormhaven had tigers, lions, southern leopards – but until now the only snow leopard I’d seen was stuffed in a museum.”

“I’d never seen any cat bigger than a lynx up here,” said Roan, shaking her head. With a faint sigh of effort, she got to her feet and offered her hand to Asta. “Mind your mug there.” She looked to the north, narrowing her eyes. “We left enough in the feeder to last the hens another couple of days, but I don’t like the look of those clouds on the horizon. Best we start heading back down to the broch.”

They broke camp and loaded the packed-up tent, the kettle, and the gralloched carcass of yesterday’s red stag onto Pardus’s back.

“It’s an older beast,” said Roan as she wrapped the antlers in cloth to protect Pardus’s smooth fur from the points, “so it’ll need to hang for a while, but we’ll get a good bit of venison out of it. Should last us a while if we store it right.” She caught Asta’s eye and pulled her in for a hug, leaning down a little to touch their foreheads together. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you help with the butchery.”

“I think I had too genteel an upbringing,” said Asta as she led Pardus along the narrow deer trail through the heather.

“Oh, aye?” said Roan, up ahead; the trail was too narrow to walk side-by-side.

Asta paused to button up the ear-flaps of her hat. “It – well, you know it’s not a moral objection. You don’t let them suffer and nothing goes to waste – and I love being out on the hills with you. It’s just, watching the process of it…”

Roan stopped walking to let her catch up. “You don’t need to worry about it,” she assured her. She beckoned Asta nearer and drew in close to her ear. “I’ll tell you a secret,” she murmured. Asta nodded. “The first time Granda took me hunting and I saw him gralloch a deer… I just about sicked my own guts out.”

“Oh, Roan!” Asta laughed and pushed her away. Roan just smiled and started walking again.

As the trail reached the edge of the plateau and wound down through a forested glen towards the sea, it gradually widened until they could walk two abreast again. It was warmer beneath the sheltered trees; Roan had to lower her hood, while Asta tucked the fox-fur hat into one of Pardus’s saddlebags. The sun cast a shifting light through the leaves, which were only just beginning to turn.

Then, down the slope to their right, towards the sound of the river that had carved the glen, something moved among the trees – something huge. Roan stopped in her tracks and flung a protective arm out in front of Asta, readying her spear in her other hand. Twigs snapped and branches rustled. The creature emerged into the open, turned, and froze at the sight of them. One ear flicked.

“Well,” said Roan softly, wide-eyed. She slowly lowered the spear. “Isn’t this a day for wildlife.”

The great elk stood completely still. It was even taller than an ordinary elk with broad, flat antlers tapering out to long, sweeping points along the leading edge, each antler almost as long as Roan was tall, but its muzzle was more like that of the stag tied over Pardus rather than an elk’s comical drooping snout. It lowered its head a little as if considering a charge. Roan groped blindly for Asta’s hand and held it tightly; Asta squeezed Roan’s hand hard in reply. Neither of them took their eyes off the deer.

Roan swallowed, let go, and took one sudden step forwards, flinging both arms up with a wordless yell. The great elk bolted like any other deer, bounding away down the trail and back into the trees and out of sight.

Asta allowed herself to breathe again. “I thought they were extinct in the Sea Lochs!”

“They are rare,” said Roan. “I’ve found tracks and the odd carcass, but that – I’ve never seen a live one before.”

Shaking a little as the tension eased, Asta edged closer to Roan and wrapped both arms around her waist. Almost absently, her eyes still fixed on the point where the great elk had disappeared, Roan gathered Asta in against her chest and kissed her forehead, smoothing down her hair with one hand. “You all right?”

Asta nodded, breathing deeply. “You?”

“Aye. Aye, I’m all right. Not gonnae let any daft stag mess with my wife, even a stag as big as that one. Whew. Let’s get this other one home, eh?”

“You remember the last time we were in Auchtertan?” asked Asta as they began to follow the trail down once again. Roan nodded. “I picked up an interesting volume in that little bookshop near the mercat stone, written by a wizard with a background in hunting and farming. There were some diagrams that might be useful – runic arrays he used to stop meat from spoiling, or slowing it down at least.”

“We wouldn’t go through as much salt,” said Roan thoughtfully. “Aye, we can give them a try.”

“Roan?” said Asta a couple of hours later, as the trees thinned out and the glitter of sunlight on seawater came into sight up ahead.

“Mm-hmm?”

“You called me your wife earlier.”

“I did, aye. We’ve been together long enough for it – suppose it’s a wee habit I’ve got into. Nice habit, though.”

“Do you… want to make that official?”

Roan stopped dead and stared at her, eyebrows raised and a faint smile on her face. “Asta zeDamar, was that a proposal?”

“Not a very romantic one, I know,” said Asta ruefully. “But I thought – we could maybe ride up to Duncraig for a few days. Book a hotel room, go to the registrar’s office… Make a little holiday of it.”

Roan lifted her off her feet and kissed her soundly.

“Was that a yes?”

“It was, aye.”

---

15th of Gracilis, AI 2743

Pardus galloped over the massive Kingsferry Bridge, leaving Duncraig further behind with every step. Asta tried to concentrate on riding, but every so often her eyes were drawn to the brand-new silver ring on her left hand, and a small smile appeared on her face.

“Maybe we should have tied a ‘just married’ sign to its tail,” laughed Roan, seated behind her on the construct’s back with her arms snugly around Asta’s waist. “Hey, Asta?”

“Yes?”

“When we get to the crossroads at the far end, can we go straight over?”

“What? The road home is to the left.”

“I know, I know – but there’s something I want to show you first.”

Asta didn’t answer. Her smile faded, and Pardus slowed to a sedate jog.

Roan leant forwards to try and see her face. “Are you all right?”

“The road straight over goes to Castle MacArra,” said Asta quietly.

“Ah.” Roan held her a little tighter and kissed the side of her neck. “We don’t need to go that far – there’s just a house I need to visit, well outside the estate borders.”

“Really? Why?”

Roan hummed for a second. “It’s a surprise.”

“So mysterious,” said Asta, the smile creeping back. “Well – all right. But we might have to stop overnight before we get home.”

The house in question was a sprawling single-storey building with a slate roof and walls of warm red sandstone, placed in the middle of a huge garden with plenty of shrubs and winter-bare trees among the flower beds and patches of long grass. To one side, a carriage with two constructs in harness sat in an open-ended coach-house, while a little pointed turret above the main door was decorated by an iron weathervane with a silhouette of a running dog above the points of the compass.

“Roan, what is this?” asked Asta as she climbed down from the saddle.

Roan took her hand and led her over to the door. “I – I wanted to get you something really special for a wedding present. So I started asking around at the markets, and went to the library in Auchtertan…”

“You went to the library for me?” Asta touched her heart, eyes wide.

“The librarians were very helpful. And I found out about this place! The woman who lives here breeds rough-coated wolfhounds, and she has a good reputation. I – I’ve never had a dog. But the books said that they’re a clever, affectionate breed that take well to training, and that they’re very long-lived for dogs – almost twenty years!”

“They’re also very big,” Asta pointed out.

Roan’s smile was only a little embarrassed, and she clasped both of Asta’s hands between her own. “I still worry a bit about leaving you alone in the broch,” she said. “Even if it’s only for a few hours, I worry. In case something happens while I’m away. I know it’s daft, I know you look after yourself just fine – but I still worry. So if we’re getting a dog, I… I want it to be one that can keep an eye out for you.”

Asta freed one hand and reached up to brush Roan’s hair out of her face, stroking her forehead with one thumb. Her fringe was getting long. “That wasn’t an objection,” she said gently. “It won’t hurt to give your self-defence tips some backup.”

Roan smiled and rang the doorbell.

A stout, motherly woman answered it with a smile. “Yes, you’re here to see Whisky’s litter, right?” she said when Roan introduced herself. “I got your letter – I’m Siobhan. Through here, through here – the pups aren’t old enough to leave her yet, not for another couple of weeks, but I can introduce you and you can see if there’s anyone you get on with.” She opened a door into a pleasant, airy room, its floor covered with straw and newspaper, and waved them through. Asta paused, her path firmly blocked by an enormous dog with a rough, shaggy, grey-brown coat.

“This is Whisky,” said Siobhan, stroking the massive wolfhound’s ears. “Each of you hold out the back of your hand to her, let her have a sniff, and she’ll settle right down.”

They did as they were told. Whisky took her time inspecting them, snuffling at their hands, but she seemed satisfied by whatever she found and, tail wagging, lay down on a wide, somewhat chewed cushion in the corner of the room. In her place, half a dozen boisterous puppies wobbled over to say hello.

Asta sat down on the floor with a bump.

“I’ll leave you to it for a while,” said Siobhan, smiling. “Would you like some tea? I’ll go put the kettle on.”

“I’ll give you a hand,” said Roan, trying not to laugh as the puppies swarmed Asta under Whisky’s experienced eye.

“Yes, we can have a chat in the kitchen – I like to have an idea of the homes my dogs are going to.”

They returned to the dogs’ room a while later, half-finished mugs of tea in hand.

“Well, it doesn’t sound like there should be any problems,” said Siobhan. “You ought to have plenty of room out there, and I know there’s a good vet working out of a surgery in Auchtertan. But if you’ve no objections I’ll send one of my daughters out for a wee inspection in a few days, just to be on the safe side.”

“We don’t have a spare room for her,” warned Roan. “She’ll have to sleep on our couch if she ends up staying the night.”

“Och, there’s a wee inn near the vet’s place she can use,” said Siobhan, waving a hand. “Let’s see what your wife has to say.”

Roan opened the door, took in the scene, and closed it again. “Can you give her a minute? She’s completely covered in puppies.”

“Ah.”

Roan let herself back into the room and knelt down. Asta lay flat on her back on the floor with a look of delirious happiness on her face. One of the puppies had made itself comfortable and fallen asleep on her stomach, while its siblings joyfully wrestled each other across her legs.

“So, ah…” said Roan. “Have you chosen a puppy?”

Asta managed to lift a hand and laid it over the one using her as a bed. Her smile somehow grew even wider.

Roan laughed and leant down to kiss her. “I’ll tell Siobhan.”

---

8th of Nivalis, AI 2754

“Any plans for today?” asked Asta. “Other than the usual chores, I mean.”

Roan stirred a spoonful of honey into her porridge. “I thought I’d take the boat out and go fishing,” she said. “See if I can catch something more substantial than the river traps can take. It looks like it’ll be a nice day for it – bright for this time of year and not too windy. Want to come?”

“No, I’ll let you wrestle fish by yourself,” said Asta. “I think the chicken feeder’s timer needs a few tweaks – I was going to see if there’s anything I can do with the clockwork. Can you make sure you’re back before dark, though? I’ll need your help if the runic arrays need refreshed.”

“I’ll see to it,” promised Roan. “Bramble can keep you company in the meantime – won’t you, Bramble?”

Bramble’s attention was focussed on her morning biscuit, but she wagged her tail at the sound of her name.

“That was a yes,” translated Asta, reaching down to scratch the back of the huge dog’s neck. “Do you think Riabhach will help out again?”

“Aye, he usually shows up outside the mating season,” said Roan. “He’s quite good at chasing fish onto my line – not sure why, when he can catch them just fine by himself.”

“Maybe he just likes your company,” said Asta.

“Maybe. I’ll set a fish aside for him anyway.”

With the morning’s chores out of the way, Roan packed herself a lunch, kissed Asta farewell, and jogged up the coastal track to the boat shed on its beach. Asta watched from the wall top until she was out of sight, smiled, and went to inspect the chicken feeder with Bramble trotting at her heels. Fully-grown, the top of her head reached slightly past Asta’s waist.

There was nothing wrong with the chicken feeder that a little grease to the gears couldn’t fix, but the arrays on the feed container that halted rot and deterred pests were getting worn and scuffed. Asta freshened the runes with some metallic paint, but anything more would have to wait until Roan came back from fishing. She washed her hands and glanced up at the sky. The earlier clear blue was gone, replaced by ominous shades of grey. Asta sighed and whistled to Bramble, collecting her harness and leash from the hook by the door. “Time for a walk, eh, girl?”

Bramble wagged her approval.

The rain started on the way back from a long walk up the coast of the loch. Asta muttered a curse and pulled up her hood, breaking into a run that Bramble easily kept pace with, but the downpour only grew heavier until she was soaked to the skin before she had even reached the broch. Trees thrashed in the rising wind; somewhere behind her, the creak of wood rose to a scream as a branch tore off and was carried away. Had the sun set? It was hard to tell – black clouds shrouded it completely. Asta reached the gate and rushed through. The outer wall held off the worst of the wind, but even so the hens had already taken shelter in their coop. Asta closed the hatch and bolted it to keep them safely inside, then let herself and Bramble into the broch.

“Roan?” No answer. Nothing to worry about – she must have taken the boat into some sheltered cove to wait out the storm. “Stay,” Asta added to Bramble, who had just given herself a vigorous shake in the middle of the entrance passage. Bramble sat down to wait by the door, licking the water from her whiskers, until Asta returned from upstairs with an old towel for her. “There we go, that’s better, isn’t it?” said Asta, untying Bramble’s harness and drying her fur as well as she could. “Who’s a good dog? Yes, you are, you are! No, don’t – don’t lick me. Let’s get the fire going so you can lie down and dry off properly. Then…” Asta looked down at her sodden clothes. “Then I’ll try to dry off.”

Changed into dry clothes and with the rest draped over a frame by the fire, Asta settled down on a couch with a book, firmly nudging the still-damp Bramble back down on the rug with one foot when she tried to climb up beside her. She was far too big to nap on Asta’s stomach any more, but she never quite seemed to understand that.

They waited.

Asta got up to fill Bramble’s bowl and heated a couple of leftover fishcakes for herself. The wind shrieked outside and did not let up until long after Asta had dozed off on the couch, one hand resting on Bramble’s shoulders.

The storm had passed by morning, leaving a clear sky and still, cold air, but Roan had not returned. Asta climbed to the broch’s rampart and looked in all directions for any sign of a tall red-haired figure in a sealskin cloak. Still nothing. Asta let the hens out and collected the eggs, then boiled a couple of them for breakfast; one for herself and one for Bramble as a treat. After another silent hour, she buckled Bramble’s harness, clipped on the leash, and set off towards the boat shed. It stood open and empty on the deserted beach.

Asta’s nails dug into the palm of her hand. She let Bramble off the leash and climbed to the top of the rocks past the boat shed’s beach. Still nothing – wait. She called for Bramble to follow and began to run, along the coast and over the uneven rocky pavement, stumbling on patches of seaweed and splashing through shallow rock pools.

She slid to a halt and almost lost her balance at the edge of the rocks, staring down into a deeper channel carved where the sea had found a point of weakness. It was like a miniature gorge, about as wide and as deep as Asta was tall, and as the tide ebbed it left white sand bare at the landward end.

White sand covered with spars of shattered wood. Treated boards, not loose branches, smoothed and curved into the proper shapes. Some were still nailed together; most just ended in a mess of splinters. One loose board still carried some decoration: patterns based on the carvings from the ancient symbol-stones, and writing in a hand Asta recognised as her own.

A name: Each-Uisge. Asta’s breath shuddered in her chest, harder and harder until it almost wouldn’t come at all. Bramble whined and licked her hand, leaning against her hip.

Asta fell to her knees and screamed at the waves until her voice died.

---

Light-Through-Waves’ 34th Winter

Sometimes, Light-Through-Waves really wondered why he bothered. Seal-That-Walks was quite clever for a human, and he was rather fond of her and her mate Black-Mane, but she often couldn’t understand even the simplest things without a flat shape to look at. Any foal could tell the storm was coming, could taste it in the wind and the water – the rest of the herd had gone to ride it out in the south coves – but when he had tried to warn Seal-That-Walks she had just taken it for a game and kept floating out on the hollow log. He had thought that if he helped her catch enough fish, she would go back to her tower on the shore before the storm hit, but no. She had eventually realised he was worried – just before the storm hit, by which point it was far too late. The wind had ripped away the log’s wing and raised waves that crushed the wood to pieces.

Light-Through-Waves had tried to help. Every foal knew it – if you couldn’t make it to a cove, then you should dive deep below the waves for as long as your breath would hold. He had grabbed Seal-That-Walks’ front flipper in his jaws, careful not to break her fragile human hide with his teeth, and dragged her down to a safe depth, but the foolish creature had fought him, battering at the soft skin around his nostrils with the tiny claws of her other flipper until he had to let go and she shot back to the dangerous surface. In a storm! Seal-That-Walks was a strong swimmer for a human – so, not very strong at all by any proper standard – but even a grown stallion like Light-Through-Waves had trouble at the surface in such weather, and the sea had carried her away. He had tried to follow at a safe depth, only resurfacing when his lungs could no longer bear submersion, but the current had her and she was out of sight in the space of a heartbeat. Light-Through-Waves pinned his ears back against his skull and swam with the current.

Slowly, the storm above weakened, and as the sun rose Light-Through-Waves lifted his head from the water, trying to catch any scent on the wind. There – a faint breeze from the west. He ducked back below the surface and bared his teeth as he swam, letting the water filter across his tongue without going down his throat. Beneath the salt was the sharper taste of human blood.

The water was getting shallower; he could feel it in his whiskers. There was an island up ahead, one he knew; the Whale-That-Was-Not swam there whenever it left the loch by Seal-That-Walks’ tower. Not much good for hauling out – the rocks were steep and any beaches big enough for a herd were always busy with humans – but there was a reef off the coast that was all right for a quick rest. He would be coming up on it soon.

The taste of blood grew stronger. Light-Through-Waves lifted his head from the water. The reef was just up ahead – and it was occupied. Seal-That-Walks hung from the rough stone, half in the water, bashing against the rock with each wave, and limp except for one clutching flipper. Light-Through-Waves drew up beside her and gripped the rock with his own claws. The edges were sharp, but his hide held up better than hers and none of his blood clouded the water.

He barked softly and nuzzled her face as he would to encourage one of his foals. Her face was almost white beneath the streaks of blood and her odd blue markings, but she breathed. One eye was bruised and swollen shut, but the other opened a tiny crack. She coughed, water splattering from her mouth, and made the sounds she used to mean Light-Through-Waves: a small growl behind her teeth and a hiss at the back of her throat. Alive. Good. Light-Through-Waves drew back and shoved his long head beneath her foreleg. With vast effort and little strength, Seal-That-Walks released her grasp on the stone and clung to his neck. Light-Through-Waves pushed off from the reef and swam for the beach. It was too close to where the Whale-That-Was-Not rested for his liking, too near the humans that cared for the Whale, but humans were what Seal-That-Walks needed.

He hauled out on the beach, tired after the long swim. Seal-That-Walks lost her grip on his neck and collapsed to the sand, shivering and exhausted. One of her hind flippers did not look right. Light-Through-Waves gave it a nudge, and she flinched away with a strangled cry. Injured, then.

Humans had less blubber than a newborn foal, nothing to keep them warm but the extra skins they wore over their own. Next to useless. Light-Through-Waves curled around her and lay down to wait for help.

The sun climbed higher, casting a warm light over the beach, and his fur fluffed out as it dried. The Whale swam out from its den and away towards the mainland. Then – human voices up the beach. Light-Through-Waves raised his head. There was a large group of them coming down the sand, picking through the debris along the tideline. He roared to get their attention. It worked – they began to run down the beach towards him, shouting and waving their arms. One young female with a red mane like Seal-That-Walks drew ahead of the herd and flung out one arm, throwing something that stung Light-Through-Waves’ snout. He flattened his ears and backed slowly away from Seal-That-Walks, baring his teeth. The young female showed her own and he reared back in surprise – since when did humans have fangs? – but it wasn’t a real threat and she knelt on the sand beside Seal-That-Walks, her shoulders up as if she was trying to make her mane bristle.

The rest of the herd caught up, all of them fully-grown or near enough. None of them carried blades, but the air shimmered where they raised their arms and more unseen wasps struck at his muzzle and shoulders, painful but without drawing blood. They thought he was the threat! But they didn’t want to hurt Seal-That-Walks; as far as he could read human expressions, there was concern on their faces as they gathered around her. He retreated into the sea, watching as the odd shimmers disappeared and one human ran back along the beach. More of them arrived, lifted Seal-That-Walks onto a strange flat log, and carried her away.

There was nothing more that Light-Through-Waves could do. He dived beneath the water and began the long swim to the mainland. His herd would be wondering where he had gone – and Black-Mane would want to know her mate was safe.

Quite how he would explain to Black-Mane that her mate was safe… He would have to give that some thought.

~~~

To Be Continued! ain’t no bury your gays over here

Some notes:

Asta originally mentioned the bookshop being near the mercat cross, that being what they’re called in the real world (here); however, since they don’t have Christianity but are aware of crucifixion, the cross has a rather different cultural meaning for them and I changed her line to a more neutral ‘mercat stone’.

Bramble’s breed isn’t just referred to as a rough-coated wolfhound because they don’t have an Ireland; while they were the main inspiration for how she looks, she isn’t an Irish Wolfhound. For one, they generally don’t live for more than about eight years compared to Bramble’s expected twenty.

As you might expect for a wild animal, Riabhach doesn’t actually call himself that. However, both Roan’s name for him and his own refer to his markings: riabhach means ‘brindled’, while ‘Light-Through-Waves’ comes from the patterns you get on a surface when light shines on it through water. He also, despite his intelligence, has a rather unrealistic idea of human lung capacity.

#az writes stories

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ask-de-writer · 4 years

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Dr. Mordenheim’s Travels, Book 1: De Writer’s Equestria, Ch. 4

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Dr. Mordenheim’s Travels, Book 1: De Writer’s Equestria, Ch. 4

Mordenheim

(In Hosted Tales)

1458 words

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Victor smiled as he finished up with his latest patient. Using a rag wrapped around one of his fore hooves, the other end gripped in his teeth the zebra polished the shining steel of the green earth pony’s prosthetic rear leg.

“Now then,” he said, tossing the rag aside and picking up a small vial in his teeth, “In a few hours the anesthetic will start to wear off. It will feel like a dull ache at first but will gradually get worse. As SOON as you feel that ache I want you to take a teaspoon of this potion, then once every eight hours after that. I’m sorry if it throws off your sleeping schedule, but this is necessary to make sure that everything heals and melds together properly.”

Rosewater nodded and smiled, taking the vial and placing it in her saddlebags, “Thank you, Doctor! When that cart ran over my leg, I thought I would be in a mobility cart for the rest of my days.”

“Well, you’re not out of the woods just yet. There’s still a chance that your body might reject the implants or the nerve connections may not heal properly. However if you take your medicine at the prescribed times and come back for your scheduled checkups, the risk is minimal. In fact, you should be right as rain in just a few weeks time.” He walked around the mare, making sure that everything seemed to be properly finished as well as admiring his own work. “In the meantime, you can walk on it normally, but no running, jumping, or kicking until I give you the okay, alright? We don’t want to cause any more damage.”

The mare shook her head, her pink curls swaying from side to side. “No sir! I’ll take it nice and easy for now.”

Victor smiled again, draping a hoof over the back of the mare that he towered over. The red-maned zebra being the size of a Rom horse himself cast a bit of an imposing image, but his gentle words and actions had won over the smaller female. “Now, since you are the first to get this experimental treatment, there shall be no charge for the surgery, however, I will require a few bits payment for the medicine itself. I will send you my bill shortly, but I promise it will not be much.” He carefully helped the mare walk towards the door.

Rosewater opened the door slowly, the well oiled hinges not making even the slightest squeak as she stepped outside and took a deep breath of fresh air. The sun was sinking low in the sky. “Oh my, it’s later than I thought! Thank you, doctor but I need to hurry home before dark!”

Suddenly the heavy hoof of the zebra stamped down on the end of her tail, drawing her up short. “No running! Just move at a gentle canter and you should be back in Ponyville proper before you know it.” He lifted his hoof and smiled before waving. “Fair travels, miss Rosewater, and I will see you next week.”

As he trotted back inside, he put out an ornately carved wooden sign that said “RING BELL FOR SERVICE” in bright green lettering. The paint of the sign was designed to glow brightly when struck by moon or starlight as was the bell hanging by the front door. Heading into the workshop at the back of the clinic, he tossed a few hunks of wood and coal into the large incinerator and fired it up, using a chemical compound and a bit of flint. After the fire was burning brightly, he opened the door to his operating room. Carefully gathering up the bloodied sheets and disposable equipment, he tossed them into the incinerator. Closing the heavy iron door with a loud clank, he turned his attention to his surgical equipment. He pulled out a few bottles of powerful antibacterial potions and carefully mixed them into a vat of water. He then set his sharp, shining instruments inside to soak for a while. He heard the bell ring at the front door.

Tilting his head, he headed for the heavy wooden door. He'd never actually had a patient this late since the areas near the Everfree could be dangerous after dark, so it must be truly important. Opening the door, he was used to looking down to greet his patients, due to his towering, Rom-like height. He was quite surprised to actually find himself eye to eye with a beautiful midnight-blue mare.

“Oh! Your highness!” He remembered himself at last and bowed to the Princess of Dreams and Nightmares, “To what do I owe this wonderful surprise?”

The zebra found himself being ushered to one side by one of the Royal Guard. Commander Lightning Rays, a white pegasus with distinctive black wing tips used the tip of his spear to gesture for the doctor to step back to what he deemed a safe distance. As he glanced through the doorway he could see two more guards posted outside the doors before they swung closed behind his guests.

“Unfortunately, my reason for visiting is not pleasant. I have received a complaint from the Ponyville Medical Society that there was a doctor in the area practicing without proper authorization.” She frowned a bit, looking over the zebra’s shoulder, “May I come in?”

Victor nodded, smiling as he backed out of the way, “Of course, of course! Please, make yourself at home!”

Luna cast her gaze around the waiting and consultation area, seeing that everything was clean and brightly lit. It was cheerfully colored rather than being the normal stark white of the horsepital. Several comfortable chairs and couches lined the walls. There was a shelf full of various books. A small area off to the side seemed to be dedicated for foals to play while they waited. A large, heavy-looking wooden desk was central to the wall opposite the entrance. She rested a hoof on it’s shining, smooth surface, the reddish-brown wood so polished that she could see her reflection in the surface.

“Mahogany?” she asked, a bit surprised as the wood was quite hard to come bay so far to the north.

The zebra nodded, his chest puffing up a bit with pride, “I wanted to be sure that everything was the very best, for both myself and my patients.”

She pushed through into the operating chamber, finding the room to be a sparkling white. Her nose stung a bit from the strong chemical smell coming from the bucket of surgical tools, but that was to be expected. Her ears twitched a little at the low rumble of the incinerator against the far back wall. “I can see you keep everything meticulously clean. Not at all what I was told by Dr. Crossly.”

The good doctor looked a bit confused, “Dr. Crossly? I’m sorry, I’ve never met anypony by that name. In fact, I haven’t met any of the other local doctors. They seem to be avoiding me for some reason.”

The midnight mare rolled her eyes a bit, “I expected as much. It would seem that the Medical Society feels threatened by your business and are trying to use me for a method of bringing you grief. Tell me, the prosthetic on the young mare who just left, was that your work?”

“Yes, your highness. In fact, surgical amputation and prosthetics are something of a specialty of mine.”

“Do you have one of your prosthetics that I may look over? I am very curious about your work.”

Victor crouched down and pulled open a heavy drawer set in the base of the wall. Dark padding lined the inside of it and a small, foal-sized prosthetic leg was lying within. He lifted it out of the drawer and placed it upon the operating table, an odd amalgamation of wires dangling from the inside of the hip.

Luna picked it up with her magic, turning it over in the air, inspecting it with a jeweler’s gaze. Every tiny detail was visible to her, from the wires designed to interface with the nerve endings in a pony’s legs to the special pads and enchanted rods used to allow the natural magic of an earth pony to flow naturally. She tilted her head a bit before uttering, “Doctor, there is one thing I am curious about. Many prosthetics are designed to rely on a pony’s natural magic to power them, but I see no such thing in your design. While it is very impressive, I fail to see how it can even function.”

The zebra smiled a bit, reaching up to tap his hoof on a small square panel that the princess had assumed was part of the assembly. With one gentle press it sprung open, revealing an empty cavity lined with hundreds of tiny metal wires, looking much like brush of some kind. “This is where the power supply is inserted.”

He pulled the drawer out a bit further than it was before and produced what looked like a small suitcase of some sort. Opening it revealed a crushed velvet lining and several small quartz crystals nestled within. Each of the crystals glowed faintly with a differently colored aura. “A short while ago, I discovered an alchemical process to alter quartz crystals to allow them to hold either magical or electrical energy. The prosthetics are designed to use either.” Picking up a crystal with a faint green hue, he placed it in the open compartment where it slowly started to rotate, generating tiny sparks as it rubbed against the metal brushes. He snaped the door closed before picking up another crystal, this one glowing bright white.

“The crystal I put in the leg is charged with earth magic, while this one is charged with pure electricity from the last storm to pass through the area.” He smiled at the princess as he readied the white crystal. “Would you mind setting the prosthetic down on the table, please?

At the mention of pure electricity being harnessed from lightning, the guard perked up a little. He rubbed at his black goatee a bit as he too leaned in closer to see what was going on.

Very curious now, Princess Luna did as he asked and stepped around to the opposite side of the table to watch. Victor lowered the white crystal to each of the “nerve” wires in turn, causing the leg to twitch and spasm, the artificial “muscles” contracting just as a real leg would.

“I can connect these to the major nerves. I have even perfected it to the point that if too much is lost I can run artificial nerves straight to the spinal column, though the procedure can be dangerous.” He sighed a little as he set the crystal aside. “Sadly, my ultimate goal is to give the patient sensation in an artificial limb, but I fear that may be out of my reach.”

Luna actually seemed a bit stunned. This was an incredible accomplishment for anypony, and his ambition was amazing. This zebra sought to create a prosthetic leg that would be functionally identical to that of a real one, and he had gotten very, very close! She leaned down a bit closer, tilting her head as she noticed there were a few silvery wires that he had not touched with the crystal. “And, dear doctor, what are these connections for?”

The big zebra actually clopped his hooves together and smiled brightly, “Actually, that is the part I am most proud of.” He gestured to the delicate-seeming bundles of wire, the tiny connections little thicker than a single strand of his bright red mane. “These allow magic to flow freely through the artificial limb as if it were real, meaning that Earth Ponies still have their full connection to the Earth, and pegasi won’t stumble from having an artificial leg that falls through clouds!”

Luna’s guard took in everything, then gripped his spear a little more tightly. When their host had smiled, he had caught a glimpse of the zebra’s oddly sharp, interlocking teeth. Long and white, they reminded him of the mandibles of a shark or some other sleek predator that lurks in deep, dark places. He shook his head a little because his charge seemed oblivious to the possible danger of the situation, but he knew better than to chime in when she was so wrapped up in what she referred to as “talking shop” with another pony.

Lightning Ray’s ears perked up as he heard a commotion coming from the guards he left posted outside. As he pushed open the door he saw that they had their spears crossed, pushing back a rather pudgy-looking off-white unicorn. The intruder stamped his hoof and hissed at them through gritted teeth as he demanded entrance. His mane, almost the color of a smoker’s stained teeth flipped this way and that. He turned around and at first Lightning thought he was going to make the massive mistake of bucking at the royal guards, but instead he was trying to use his prodigious rump to shove his way through!

“AHEM!!” Lightning poked at the unicorn’s rump with a wing tip. He got a good close look at the intruder’s cutie mark. To most ponies, it would look like a red cross adorning a medical bag, fairly common for pony doctors and nurses. However, to his trained eye the cross was slightly askew, and it was a bank bag, not a medical bag that adorned his flank. “May I help you with something?”

The unicorn puffed himself up with pride, almost giving him the appearance of a bloated toad. “Yes, actually. I am Dr. Crossly, the representative of the Ponyville Medical Society who reported this fraud for operating without the proper permits. I came by here to make sure that he was shut down.”

Lightning tilted his head a little, then thought of Luna’s reaction to the work that Dr. Mordenheim was doing. Smiling a little, he gave the signal for the two guard ponies to let the unicorn pass. “Of course, Dr. Crossly, right this way.”

The unicron looked like he’d swallowed a lemon when he heard laughter coming from the next room. A deep, bass rumble of a laugh and a higher, beautiful tone, almost like tinkling chimes. He burst into the next room, Commander Lightning rays in tow and stamped his hoof on the white tiles.

“What is the meaning of this? This.. this les... er.. zebra. Has been operating a clinic without authorization!”

Luna nodded to the unicorn, and sadly to Dr. Mordenheim. “This is true, and a fine of five hundred golden bits must be paid.” Dr. Crossly was practically rubbing his hooves with glee at this remark.

“However, I have now thoroughly inspected your facilities and seen examples of your work first hoof. You have my approval to keep operating your emergency clinic right here on the edge of the Everfree for as long as you are able. Please stop by town hall tomorrow evening. Your paperwork should be properly registered by then.”

Crossly’s jaw nearly hit the floor at this announcement, but he quickly recovered. His shocked face soon became a smirk. “Actually, to operate a clinic here in Ponyville, he will need to be voted into and become a dues-paying member of the Ponyville Medical Society. We all have to do our part to protect not just the good ponies of this town, but one another as professionals, after all.”

It was Victor himself who got a bit of a smug grin now. “Actually, that was what we were discussing when you so rudely barged in. It seems that my own clinic is actually outside of Ponyville and therefore falls directly under royal jurisdiction.” He slowly stepped towards the unicorn and lowered his head to Crossly’s level. He smiled a little wider on one side of his mouth, out of sight of the princess and her guard. His long, sharp teeth were revealed to the unicorn causing the pudgy pony to pale prodigiously beneath his fur.

“I suggest you leave immediately before I ask our dear princess to have you removed for trespassing, or better yet I take care of it myself.”

Dr. Crossly, who had already been slowly backing up as the towering zebra advanced, nodded and turned tail, his hooves scrabbling on the slick tiles as he scooted back through the door and out into the night.

Victor cleared his throat a bit as he stood upright once more, using a hoof to straighten out his slightly rumpled lab coat. “Alright then. Thank you, your highness, for the proper documentation to operate my business. I truly was unaware of the rules at the time, but I shall gladly pay the fine that is due tomorrow when I visit town hall.” He smiled a bit more pleasantly at both Princess Luna and Commander Lightning Rays. “Perhaps we could meet somewhere this weekend and discuss matters further over tea?”

Eyes twinkling with humor, Princess Luna smiled back at Victor, her own lips spread just enough to show a set of fangs even larger than his. “Your dismissal of Doctor Crossly was delightful, Victor! I would be delighted to meet you for tea, after my Night Court adjourns.”

A bemused Victor watched his royal guest and her guard take wing. Muttering to himself, “She really does not miss much, does she?” he shut the door.

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catastrophicbleus · 4 years

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Rice on the Ground

{a/n: I am not matured enough to accept the fate of Ted and Alexis so I wrote a little something three years post-Happy Ending}

Alexis slides her key into the door to her small Upper East Side apartment. Nine PM — way too early to be getting home on a Friday night, but it’s not like it was her fault her date turned out to be a total bust. Sure, he wasn’t a Stavros, but he was no Ted either. Once inside she makes beeline for a bottle of wine, dumping her purse on the white quartz counter en-route the the fridge. It feels like a good night to stay a little tipsy and indulge in a rose petal bath. She grabbed a crystal glass (one of a set; a house warming present from David and Partrick) and poured a generous helping of Riesling. Leaving it on the counter to aerate, she starts the bath.

As per usual after a lacklustre date, Alexis finds her thoughts inevitably diverted to Ted. She hasn’t seem him properly in three years, since their dinner at Café Tropical — Twyla’s Café Tropical now — shortly before David’s wedding. But they were still close, talking as much as once a week when their schedules allowed. It would only be about seven in the Galapagos, and he’d been doing a lot of paperwork lately. Likely he was just winding down for the night.

The tub was still filling, the wine on the counter still breathing. Sitting on the lip of the bath she unlocked her phone to look at his contact photo — his brilliant smile, the kindest eyes she’d ever seen. She tears open a bag of petals and salts, scattering its contents onto the water and her apartment fills with the heady concoction of wine and roses. Her finger hovered over the call button. As if without permission, it presses dial.

One ring, two rings, he answers in the precise moment she comes to her senses, just before she could cancel the call.

“Hey babe!”

“Hey!” She trills, suddenly embarrassed.

“I was just thinking about you!”

“I was just thinking about you —” the door bell rings, shrill and insistent, and she moves swiftly to answer it. “Wait, babe, there’s someone at the — Oh my god babe!”

“Alexis!” He holds his arms open wide for a hug. Brilliant smile. Kind eyes. He stumbles back when she hurls herself at him, needing to feel the solidity of his body to confirm that she wasn’t just drunk or dreaming. He’s warm and smells like the curious mixture of sea salt and aeroplane, and he’s one hundred percent there.

“What are you doing here?” She asks, voice muffled against his shoulder.

“I came to see you.”

“How did you get up?”

“Well I gave your doorman my name and I told him I wanted to surprise you. I guess you must have told him about me or something because he let me right on up.” Alexis’s cheeks pink slightly. Maybe she’d mentioned Ted once or twice.

“Well of course I told him about you. There’s no one like you Ted.”

“Well there must be some other guy, somewhere.” She looks at him, his arms still around her, and they both smile, and just like that they slip once again into a familiar, well-worn intimacy.

“Well obviously I want to talk to you but you smell kinda funky and I feel kinda icky so how about we take a little bath together,” she says, tapping his chest with her finger and winking up at him.

“I’d love that.”

A few minutes later they’re sitting in the rose scented bath surrounded by rose scented candles, a wooden try holding two glasses of white; all courtesy of Rose Apothecary.

“So how was your date? It was tonight right?”

“Ugh, I don’t even want to think about it.” Especially not with her back pressed into Ted’s muscled torso, his legs around hers. For a minute neither of them speak, relishing the familiarity of the other. Even this far from Schitt’s Creek their bodies feel like home. “So what are you doing here?”

“I told you. I came to see you. There’s something I wanted to tell you in person.” His voice pitches up slightly, like it always does when he has a secret he’s dying to spill.

“Yeah? What is it?”

“I’m getting married.”

“Oh my god Ted what!” Water sloshes over the tub’s edge as she whips around to face him, and finds him laughing — red faced, head thrown back, laughing. She growls at him and lightly slaps his chest. “That wasn’t funny Ted!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Still laughing, he kisses her, simply and out of and old habit. “I’m sorry,” he says again, touching his forehead to hers.

“It wasn’t funny.” Her voice just above a whisper before she turns back around.

“Sorry,” he says again, bring his lips to her shoulder. “I just wanted to tell you that they renewed my contract for another five years.”

“Ted that’s great! Love that journey for you.” She was happy for him — she was. She didn’t mean to sound so sad.

“Yeah but I told them I wanted to spend more time at home so I’ll only be in the Galapagos like four to six months of the year, in two-month blocks.”

“Someone better tell Miguel Schitt’s Creek’s hottest vet is coming back then.” Something that feels an awful lot like hope starts simmering in her chest, but she manages keeps her voice even anyway.

“Yeah, you know, or — actually, I was thinking maybe of trying somewhere new, observing the fauna of a different habitat.”

“Like where?”

“Like here, maybe.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Well I know some mating rituals you can observe right now.” Craning her neck to kiss him, she smile’s against his lips.

#mine #schitt's creek fic #schitts creek fic #alexis rose #ted mullens #ted x alexis #alexis x ted #this happened very quickly but I refuse to proof read at this time #sc fic #don't judge me I'm tired and sad #schitt's creek #happy ending #sc 6

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saltiestdemonloves · 5 years

Text

SU Fanfic. For all my followers who follow me for other content, just ignore this! I had an idea that crossed my mind and since I love Steven Universe I thought I would write it! This is a fic about my OC Black Diamond? And how she interacted with Pink before everything happened!

Black leaned forward, brow furrowed as she studied the stats of her planet Iros. The corner of her lips turned down into a tight frown as she took in the information and an annoyed puff of breath escapes her. “I asked my quartz’s to take care of these weeks ago,” she mutters, already pulling up the communicator.

Before she could input the information to contact her general, she hears the exasperated sigh of Pink. Her finger pauses, hovering over the buttons as she hears the steps come closer.

Her Pearl peers up at her through her long thick hair, “My Diamond?”

Black’s eyes flicker down to meet the soft gaze of her Pearl and she smiles softly. Leaning from her seat, she asks the small gem, “Could you fetch Pink for me?”

Black Pearl nods and quickly steps down from the raised throne steps and hurries out of Blacks room. Black waits patiently, humming to herself as she does. Soon the door slides open and Black Pearl is leading a mystified Pink into her room.

She watches amusedly as Pink’s gaze sets upon her and her eyes widen. Black stands to greet the young diamond. “Hello Pink, it’s been a while.”

“Um,” Pink stands stiffly, looking down nervously at her own Pearl that clung to her clothes. “Did I... do something?”

Black’s brows raise at the question. “No, not that I’m aware of.”

“Oh.” Pink’s stiff posture slackens slightly. “Was there something you needed.”

“They’ve done a number on you, haven’t they?” Black murmurs softly, more to herself than Pink. There’s a flash of sympathy, then guilt, that crosses her face. “I’m sorry.”

“Black?”

Inhaling deeply, Black clears her face of the unhappy expressions and reaches out for Pink’s hand. “I know you want a planet of your own, would you like to help me manage mine?”

Pink’s eyes widen and a grin begins to spread across her lips, “Really?”

“Hm,” Black nods. Ping grasps Black’s hand and a pleased look crosses her face at how their hands fitted. Much better than the other diamonds. It was nice to get to interact with a gem that’s closer to her size. Black waits with a smile as Pink settles herself on the arm of her seat. Then, she pulls up her tablet. With a sigh, she says, “I’ve got a little infestation happening.”

“What is it?”

“These wild beasts,” Black mutters. She pulls up an image to reveal taloned birds, larger than a quartz gem, squawking, and diving for a soldier. “They are not like intelligent life, dangerous and mindless. I try to avoid unnecessary death for as long as possible, I create ways for those in charge of the kindergartens to avoid interactions with as much life as possible. I re-home them. I try.”

Pink wears a similar expression as to what Black wore earlier. “What’s wrong?”

“I made plans and ordered for my general to execute them, and to... execute the creatures. I cannot risk them damaging the kindergarten or those that are inside. But they’re still a relevant issue.”

“You can’t move the kindergartens away?”

“The injectors are already implanted,” Black answers shaking her head. “I think I might have to send in more soldiers.”

“Will it work?”

Black’s brow furrows and she hums before looking down at the Pearls and asking hers, “Could you please retrieve Black Sapphire? I need to consort with her.”

Black Pearl nods, “Of course, my Diamond.”

“Thank you,” Black murmurs, looking back up at her tablet.

“Is it... always like this?” Pink asks, her voice soft and thick with uncertainty. She looks around at Black and her tablet, sitting alone beside her Pearl, stressing about a creature.

“Not as luxurious as a bright-eyed young Diamond would think, hm?”

“I still want a planet,” Pink says quickly. “I just...”

“A planet is not a toy,” Black says softly. “It is fragile and must be handled with great care or else chaos will ensue. That can be intimidating, I know. But I see the strength in you, I know you will be able to do the right thing.”

Pink sighs and leans back, “The other diamonds don't seem to think so.”

“Well, to be fair, they’ve been at it much longer than I have. I’m closer to your age than I am theirs. In their eyes, I’m just as young and inexperienced as you, and that won't change for a long time, if ever.”

“Really?”

“Mhm,” Black smiles. “But I don’t mind, I know where I stand. I am skilled and resourceful, I am a good Diamond and leader. Hopefully, I am a good friend as well?”

Pink grins and nods, “Yes!”

“Good.”

“My Diamond,” Black Pearl crosses the throne room to meet her diamond and steps out of the way for her sapphire to stand beside her.

The sapphire bows, “My Diamond, you asked for me?”

“Pink and I needed to know if it is wise to send more soldiers to face the creatures on planet Iros.”

There’s a pause from the sapphire before she nods, “I see it being a success, no shattering. However, several will be poofed and an injector is nearly knocked over.”

“Only nearly? Does it affect the growth of the gems?”

“No, they will be fine.”

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Black says with a smile. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Sapphire says with a bow.

“Do they have to die?” Pink asked, there a hint of sadness in her voice. “They aren’t aware of what they’re doing.”

Black pauses before shaking her head, “I’m sorry, Pink. I’ve already tried everything else.”

Pink sighs and leans her chin against her palm, “That... stinks.”

“It does indeed,” Black agrees with a frown. “This is the part that I detest. If there was another way to harvest gems, I’d do it in a flash.”

“Really?”

“Hm.”

Pink pauses before saying, “Yellow scolds me when I show sympathy for the creatures. She says it’s pointless and a way of life.”

“There’s no shame in feeling sad about things, regretful.”

“They don’t talk about you often, only when they’re talking about work stuff. Weren’t you close before?”

Black’s nose scrunches at the question, she looks down at Pink who watched her curiously. “Would you like my honest opinion?” Pink nods and Black inhales deeply. “I... was very much like you. Young, naive, my eyes were wide open. But when I emerged, there was not as much... paternal instincts as they have now for you. They see you more so as a daughter, I was more like the annoying little sister.”

“Really?” Pink grimaces at the thought. It was hard to picture Black like that.

“Mhm. White says that I’m too curious about things. I asked too many questions and inquired too many times. They still don’t like that I do that.” Black looks down and pulls gently on her skirt, fixing where it had ruffled. “My court has learned that I am not all-knowing as the other diamonds like for them to believe. They’ve learned it’s okay to ask questions, to ensure everything is alright and they know the things that are needed.”

Pink hesitates, “So it’s okay if I ask you questions.”

“Whenever you’d like,” Black murmurs. “Even when you’re back on the homeworld. All you have to do is contact me on the communicator.”

Pink grapples Black in a tight squeeze, “Thank you!”

Chuckling, Black returns the hug before pulling back and sighing. Before she could ask a word to the Sapphire, she says, “Yellow and Blue will be searching for Pink if she does not return to them shortly.”

“Then I suppose it’s time to return you,” Black says softly. Pink frowns and groans before nodding, she slides off the arm of Blacks throne carefully before turning to face the diamond.

“Why don’t you come to the homeworld?”

Black shrugs, “I’m not sure. It’s not as appealing as it once was.”

“I throw balls,” Pink says, a hint of suggestion plays in her tone.

“Do you?” Black smiles, “I suppose I’ll have to come to one, one of these days.”

“Please do! It would make my day!”

Grinning, Black nods and says, “Tell you what, you plan the ball and I’ll come and stay for a while. I can give you a break from the other diamonds for a bit.”

Pink nods, her fluff of hair bouncing as she does. “Thank you, Black! I’ll be sure to send you an invitation soon!”

***

I’ll be posting a picture of Black Diamond soon! That way you’ll know how she looks!!!

#Steven Universe #steven universe fanfiction #su #black diamond oc #pink diamond #rose quartz #yellow diamond #blue diamond #white diamond #black pearl #black shapphire #steven universe fandom #my writing #oc #writing

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jasminehoneytea · 5 years

Text

we close at sunset ~ p.p

as the sun began to dip behind the skyscrapers, i left my post behind the rose quartz counter to pick up the little yellow sign that hung above the flower shop door. i flipped it over from the “come on in!” side to the side that had lavender painted letters and said “we close at sunset. thanks for stopping by!”

continuing my ‘closing time’ routine, i shut the tiny white door and flipped off the light switch. i hummed along to an old song stuck in my head. i always liked closing time. the sunset, the quiet, especially the way the golden light shined through the giant stained glass window onto the plants and gave them a sort of ethereal glow. i loved that window. it was this beautiful glass mural of a far away new york city skyline from the view of a hill with sunflowers on it. i had grown up gazing at that window, and now i got to look at it everyday.

this was my first time closing up shop on my own, my boss had finally trusted me enough to let me manage the store alone. all the customers had left, and the atmosphere was filled with tranquility.

CRASH

i let out a scream and jumped backward, just narrowly avoiding the millions of shattered colorful glass falling at my feet. i managed to grab my phone as i hid under the desk praying that the loud crash of the window breaking overpowered my scream. there was someone dressed in red and black on the floor in front of me, groaning and clutching their side. they seemed to not be paying attention, so i crawled over to a couple hostas to get a better view. i typed 911 in to the emergency call keypad and hovered my thumb over the call button, peaking through the wide, dark leaves.

wait a minute.

i recognized that spider emblem on the intruder’s chest.

“hey, uh spider-man?” i asked, slowly peeking my head out above the hostas. he groaned in pain again and turned his head towards me. the eyes on his mask twitched spuratically for a couple seconds until they seemed to focus on me. “are you here to rob me?”

spider-man used his elbow to prop himself up slightly. he winced slightly before saying “no” and falling back to floor, cursing under his breath.

“oh. okay. cool.” the fear coursing through me seemed to subside as i made my way over to him. “should i call an ambulance?”

“no.” he repeated.

“are you okay?”

“n-uh...yep, fine. totally fine.” spider-man replied. “i just was fighting this bad guy and she threw me through your window and took off. that’s all.”

the panic i once felt came rushing back. “she’s not going to come back here and try to kill us, is she?”

“nah. she’s sneaky.” he said. “she has a plan, i just don’t know what it is.”

great. spider-man just got his ass kicked and now i’m involved. if she has a mysterious plan that he doesn’t know about, how is so sure she won’t come back? i thought about asking him all these burning questions, but then saw that he was writhing on the floor. “are you sure you’re okay? ‘cus you don’t look so good.”

“actually, could you do me a favor? i think i might have gotten cut by the glass.”

i felt my stomach drop at the thought of him bleeding. “oh god i’m not gonna have to sew you up, am i? i don’t do that well with blood. sometimes i pass out and....uh...nevermind” i cut myself off before i rambled too much. i always seemed to talk excessively when i was nervous. i stood up straighter and put on a brave face. “what do you need me to do?”

“just grab a first aid kit. please.”

“gotcha! don’t move!” i regretted my words instantly, realizing that he couldn’t really move that much if he was bleeding badly. i ran over to the back of the store and grabbed a stark white box with a red cross. when i came back, spider-man was weakly reaching up to his chest, tapping the spider emblem. the suit seemed to decompress and it fell of his shoulders.

damn, spider-man’s ripped.

i shook my head. that’s not the point. the problem was the giant gash across his abdomen. his extremely toned abdomen...

i knelt down beside the spandex clad superhero and opened up the first aid kid and ripped off a piece of gauze. “it’s fine, i can do it.”

“buddy, you can hardly sit up. speaking of that, i need you to sit up.” he obliged, propping himself up using both arms. “i gotta stop the bleeding, so i’m going to use a lot of pressure. it’s going to hurt, i’m sorry.”

“don’t be.” he replied. i bit my lip in concentration and tied the gauze around his waist, Lining it with the cut. spider-man hissed in pain. i murmured another apology before tying the gauze, pulling it tight. he yelped again and lost his balance.

i caught his head and pulled him up by his shoulders slightly so he was leaning against me. “that’s the worst of it. it’s gonna take a while to stop bleeding. when you get home...or to you spider cave or whatever, just take off the gauze and clean the wound. it’s pretty bad, you should go to the hospital.”

“that’s out of the question. and i don’t have a ‘spider cave’.”

“sorry, man, you’re the one who broke my window. who even are you?” i asked.

“i’m...uh, i’m spider-man.”

i rolled my eyes. “so you’re not gonna tell me your real name?”

spider-man didn’t respond. i sighed and ripped off another piece of gauze. “did the glass cut you anywhere else?”

“um, yeah.”

“where?”

he hesitated. “the bottom right side of my face.” i reached ober to pull of his mask but his hand caught my wrist in a split second. i made a snarky comment about his damn reflexes and let my hand drop, resting in a closed fist on his chest. “i...can’t let you see my face.”

my expression softened. he seemed really genuine about keeping his identity secret. “okay.” i responded, my tone gentler. “can you at least pull it up a little bit?” he nodded and tugged the mask up to just below his nose. i studied the cut, it was just a little slice. it wasn’t even bleeding anymore. “you heal fast.” i told him.

“yeah, that’s part of my, y’know...”

“superhero thing?” i finished for him.

“yeah.” he chuckled slightly. i pretended to be observing the cut, but in reality i was studying his face, at least the part of it that i could see. he had soft pink lips. a couple freckles were seen just below where his cheeks would be. i could only assume that he had them across his nose and cheeks as well.

i looked down and realized he was still gripping my wrist. “i kind of need both hands, spidey.”

he apologized and released my wrist. i immediately got to work, watching in awe at how quickly the cut was healing while i cleaned it up. spidey winced a couple times at the pain. every time he inhaled sharply, i felt a pang of guilt in my chest and would say i’m sorry.

“you apologize too much.”

“because i’m kind of hurting you.”

“you’re helping me.” he corrected.

who knew spider-man would be such a sweet person?

“so spidey, how old are you?” i asked

“si-“ he paused. “i can’t tell you.”

“so, sixteen. cool, me too.”

he cursed softly and i giggled. “do you go to midtown?” he asked suddenly.

i nodded. “you do too, then?”

“i didn’t say that.” his face turned a shade of red.

“you’re not good at this whole identity thing.” i told him. spidey opened his mouth to retort, but i interjected. “this might scar.” i grabbed a turquoise bandaid with little succulents on it and placed it over his jaw, patting his cheek gently.

spider-man shrugged. “it’s okay, it should fade in a day or two.”

“those healing powers are useful.” i replied.

he grinned. “yeah. they are. you’re pretty useful too. thanks for cleaning me up.” i smiled back and put away my first aid kit, narrowly avoiding pieces of my poor window. “so, uh, plants, huh?” he called out to me as i hung the box back on the wall.

“spider-man!” i feigned a gasp. “if i didn’t know better, i’d say you were trying to start small talk with me!”

i heard him shuffle behind me. “so what if i am?”

i cracked a smile. “yes, plants. i’ve been dreaming of working at this exact store since i was five. i came in every weekend and volunteered to help water the plants. the day i turned sixteen, i applied to work here and got the job. tonight was actually my first night closing up shop. now i have to explain to my boss why there’s no window.

“‘we close at sunset’.” spidey said, referring to the little sign that was now face-down on the sidewalk outside.

i nodded. “we do indeed.”

spidey went quiet for a couple seconds. i grabbed a broom from the corner and began to say, “so are you gonna help me sweep this glass up or-“

when i turned around, spidey was no where to be seen. “-not...” i finished, sighing aloud. i had no idea how i was gonna explain this to my boss. that stained glass window was everything to her, not to mention how it was the symbol of my childhood dreams. i was just a sixteen year old, how was i supposed to pay for a thousand dollar window?

by the time i finished cleaning up the poor glass, the sun had set into a hazy purple night. it wasn’t too dark yet, i’d just have to write a lengthy email to my boss about what had happened that night. at least the old security camera that barely worked could help me plead my case.

“god, if you’re real and listening, please let me keep my job.” i whispered allowed as i finished taping an old blanket to cover the gaping hole where the window was. “and spider-man, if you’re listening too, you better pay for this. i can’t lose this, it’s my dream.” i blinked back frustrated and overwhelmed tears and picked up the “we close at sunset” sign, hanging it in its rightful place.

i clutched my purse to my side as i walked down the dimly light new york streets. a sudden shadowy movement caught my eye and i turned just quick enough to see a red and black figure on top of roof duck down. “thanks, spidey.” i mumbled, chucking softly. i felt a little safer knowing a teenage superhero was watching over me.

the next day, i woke up to a long voicemail from my boss. she sounded mad, but at least she believed me. i walked to school, my shoulders feeling a little lighter than they did the night before. i glanced up at the same midtown high sign that i looked at every day, five days a week, and a thought crossed my mind.

spider-man goes to midtown high.

i spent the rest of the morning attempting to identify the masked mystery, but i couldn’t recognize his voice anywhere. i hoped that maybe a couple freckle-faced boys would cross paths with me, but none did. by the end of the day, i had given up. i wasn’t going to find spider-man. i headed to work at the flower shop like any other day, feeling completely and utterly defeated.

my boss had left early for the day, searching for a stained glass shop that could fix the hole in the window and recreate the old picture.

“um, excuse me.” a voice said. it sounded familiar, i just couldn’t figure out from where i had heard it before.

i looked up and was face to face with a boy who looked my age. he had wavy brown hair, a couple of stray curls falling in front of his carame eyes. a dusting of freckles were delicately placed across the center of his face. i realized i was staring and awkwardly looked away.

“h-hi. my...aunt had ordered something from you but, um, apparently the order didn’t go through properly and...uh...anyways here’s the money.” he said, handing me a wad of cash. i flipped through it and my eyes widened.

“this is twelve hundred dollars.” i said, my voice low.

he nodded. “yeah. the order was...for...uh, a party.”

i looked back up at him, studying him once more. my eyes landed on his midtown high sweater. “i go there, too.” i said, gesturing to it. he gave me a small half-smile in response.

suddenly, i noticed a fading scar that stretched from his jawline up to to the lower part of his cheek; and suddenly, everything clicked into place. the unreasonable amount of money, the voice i somehow recognized, the scar, everything.

“spider-man?”

his eyes widened with fear. “n-no! what?”

“you’re him, aren’t you? i know your voice, your scar...you’re paying for the window aren’t you?”

“you have to be quiet!” he exclaimed with panicky tone. i laughed quietly and stepped around the counter.

“take me out for coffee and explain everything,” i told him. he was awfully cute, after all.

“...we close at sunset.”

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mordenheim · 5 years

Text

Dr. Mordenheim’s Travels, Book 1: De Writer’s Equestria, Ch. 4

Dr. Victor Mordenheim has traveled to many different realities in his many centuries of existence. This series, which I shall add to from time to time, will explore some of them, beginning with the world of @ask-de-writer. Also, thank you to @ask-de-writer for the editing and ending bit.

=============================================================

The mare shook her head, her pink curls swaying from side to side. “No sir! I’ll take it nice and easy for now.”

Tilting his head, he headed for the heavy wooden door. He’d never actually had a patient this late since the areas near the Everfree could be dangerous after dark, so it must be truly important. Opening the door, he was used to looking down to greet his patients, due to his towering, Rom-like height. He was quite surprised to actually find himself eye to eye with a beautiful midnight-blue mare.

“Oh! Your highness!” He remembered himself at last and bowed to the Princess of Dreams and Nightmares, “To what do I owe this wonderful surprise?”

Victor nodded, smiling as he backed out of the way, “Of course, of course! Please, make yourself at home!”

“Mahogany?” she asked, a bit surprised as the wood was quite hard to come by so far to the north.

The zebra nodded, his chest puffing up a bit with pride, “I wanted to be sure that everything was the very best, for both myself and my patients.”

The mare looked thoughtful, walking over to the bookshelf, running a hoof over the many different tomes. There was everything from medical journals, to nonfiction historical books, children’s books, and even a complete set of Daring-Do novels lined the shelf. Victor watched as she inspected everything carefully before she headed towards the operating room door. She pushed through into the operating chamber, finding the room to be a sparkling white. Her nose stung a bit from the strong chemical smell coming from the bucket of surgical tools, but that was to be expected. Her ears twitched a little at the low rumble of the incinerator against the far back wall. “I can see you keep everything meticulously clean. Not at all what I was told by Dr. Crossly.”

“Yes, your highness. In fact, surgical amputation and prosthetics are something of a specialty of mine.”

“Do you have one of your prosthetics that I may look over? I am very curious about your work.”

He pulled the drawer out a bit further than it was before and produced what looked like a small suitcase of some sort. Opening it revealed a crushed velvet lining and several small quartz crystals nestled within. Each of the crystals glowed faintly with a differently colored aura. “A short while ago, I discovered an alchemical process to alter quartz crystals to allow them to hold either magical or electrical energy. The prosthetics are designed to use either.” Picking up a crystal with a faint green hue, he placed it in the open compartment where it slowly started to rotate, generating tiny sparks as it rubbed against the metal brushes. He snapped the door closed before picking up another crystal, this one glowing bright white.

At the mention of pure electricity being harnessed from lightning, the guard perked up a little. He rubbed at his black goatee a bit as he too leaned in closer to see what was going on.

“What is the meaning of this? This.. this les... er.. zebra. Has been operating a clinic without authorization!”

“I suggest you leave immediately before I ask our dear princess to have you removed for trespassing, or better yet I take care of it myself.”

A bemused Victor watched his royal guest and her guard take wing. Muttering to himself, “She really does not miss much, does she?” he shut the door.

#MLP #text #story #mordenheim #pony #ask-de-writer #Princess Luna #fanfiction

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the-softest-puffball · 6 years

Text

Sunset of Love

I’m feeling extremely sappy right now, okay, don’t judge me

And I’m horrible at naming things

Summary: Patton thought this was gonna be just another beautiful date. An extravagant dinner, a trip to his favorite sweet shop, then a walk down the boardwalk at sunset. Yet when Roman asks a question he was not expecting, this was possibly the best date he had.

Genre: Fluff

Pairings: Royality

Warnings: Food (kinda), possible death by cuteness, other than that you should be good (please tell me if there’s something else though)

Word Count: 1340 ----------

Patton looked in the mirror once again, fixing a small hair piece that fell in front of his face and fixing his shirt. He smiled a big grin when he was satisfied before going downstairs downstairs, to where Roman, his beloved boyfriend, was waiting for him.

Roman was wearing a white dress shirt with red swirl decorations, black pants, and black dress shoes. He was holding the keys to their car and had his signature cocky smile on his face.

“You look beautiful, as always, my darling,” Roman said, Patton giggling.

“You look very handsome as well, Ro!” He replied, Roman smiling even brighter.

“Shall we go?” Roman did a polite bow, both of them laughing before heading out the door, getting inside the car and driving out of the garage.

“So, where are we heading, my prince?” Patton asked once they had reached the main road.

“Well, you know that one restaurant I was speaking about a couple days ago?” Roman glanced at Patton for a moment.

“Yeah?”

“We are heading there.”

“Roman, that’s so expensive! We are going to be poor because of these dates!” Roman laughed.

“You love them, though, right?”

“That’s true, they are fun!”

“Then that’s all that matters, just seeing your smile light up is worth it all.” Roman squeezed Patton’s hand he was holding to emphasize his point, a faint blush creeping up on Patton’s cheeks. “And besides, between my acting career and your animal shelter, I am sure we will be absolutely fine, my dear.”

After it being silent for a minute, them both soaking up their surroundings, Roman turned on some Disney music and rolled down the windows, a grin appearing on his face. Patton gasped and giggled, them both starting to sing loudly to the song that was playing.

They didn’t care about the people that heard, they sang with all their hearts, occasional laughs in between the lyrics. The drive became much more shorter, them soon arriving to their destination.

“Here we are, my love!” Roman exclaimed when he parked, turning off the music and rolling up the windows. They both got out and entered the restaurant. Patton gasped when they walked in, taking in all the sights and smells. He looked at Roman with an excited gleam in his eyes as they asked for a table.

The waitress soon got to them, luckily someone had just finished up their food, so they quickly sat down and ordered a drink. Roman began talking about the new musical he was starring in, grandly gesturing and almost knocking over his glass multiple times.

To be honest, Patton wasn’t paying much attention. He was trying to, but the excitement Roman had in his eyes was distracting. It was amazing how he could fall in love all over again even after all these years.

The waitress came back and asked about food, Patton and Roman deciding to share a plate of some sort of vegetarian food by a fancy name Patton couldn’t pronounce.

They talked about lots of things, staying there for probably 2 hours, Patton guessed, before they finally decided to leave. They paid and left, Patton jumping with excitement as he asked where they were going next.

Roman laughed. “It’s a surprise, mi corazón.”

Roman entwined their fingers together as he lead them down the street, dodging the few people on the sidewalk. He then opened the door to the place they were headed, Patton smiling brightly when he recognized the store.

“You brought me here!?” Patton exclaimed excitedly, jumping up and down. Roman nodded with a grin, Patton running up to the display case and looking at all the sweets stored inside.

He pointed out about 10 different sweets he wanted, looking at Roman with a pleading look on his face.

“You know what, you deserve everything, so I will buy them all on one condition,” Roman replied, Patton tilting his head to the side. “You share them with me.”

“Of course, silly! I will always share them with you!” Patton answered, a large smile on his face as they bought them.

They walked outside with a bag full of the candy, Patton already snacking on them as Roman lead them to the final spot of their date.

They held hands and swayed them slightly as they walked down the boardwalk, a scarce amount of people present there. Patton kept making a bunch of dad jokes as Roman searched for a seat to watch the sunset.

When he found one, the sun was just beginning to set, Roman and Patton becoming comfortable as they watched.

“Thank you, Roro,” Patton whispered after a time, both turning to look at each other. Roman smiled, soft and light, before closing the distance between them, tasting the sugar on both of their lips.

They pulled away once they need to breathe, both sighing before giggling.

“I love you,” Roman spoke, Patton nodding.

“I love you too.”

Roman then seemed to remember something, his eyes lighting up.

Patton watched in confusion as he put the sweets bag off his lap and onto the bench, standing up and pulling Patton with him.

“You know, sunshine, there was actually something I was going to tell you,” Roman started, Patton still very confused.

Roman smiled, his signature grin, but it was illuminated by the sun’s orange rays and the reflection of the water. Patton’s breath caught in his throat, him making a little squeak sound before him blushing.

“Sorry! You just looked very handsome, and I-” Patton said, Roman laughing, loud and boisterous.

“It’s alright, I am very handsome, and this lighting is probably complimenting my features very well.” Roman’s grin became even more confident, Patton snickering.

“Alright…” Roman took a deep breath, Patton slightly tilting his head. “Patton... my heart, my world, my love, my light, my everything… You are an angel. A literal angel. You are a sunshine that shines away the darkness, a flower that blooms no matter the season, a happiness that brightens my day. My love for you is brighter than a million suns, mightier than the strongest metal in the entire universe. I am romantic, and it’s no secret, but you have exceeded my expectations for perfect. We go on perfect dates together, we live perfectly together, we are perfect. And I know that Disney has taught me one thing right, which is that everyone has a soulmate. I am completely convinced that you are mine. So…”

Patton had began crying during his speech, gasping in surprise and clutching his shirt when Roman had bent down on one knee and pulled out a small black box.

“Patton Love, will you become my happily ever after?” He opened the box, a silver ring with a light aquamarine crystal in the middle and two rose quartz on the side popping out.

Patton let out a choked sob and tackled Roman, tears rolling down his face. He kissed Roman multiple times, not being able to say anything out of excitement.

“Yes, oh yes, Ro! I’ll marry you, yes!” Patton finally managed to say, Roman holding Patton close and laughing breathlessly. They stayed there for a couple minutes, holding each other and kissing, a huge smile on both of their faces.

Roman finally sat up, bringing Patton with him. He then stood up and picked Patton up bridal-style, twirling him around as they both laughed.

Roman put Patton down after a couple spins, taking out the sparkling ring in the box and grabbing Patton’s hand, slipping the ring on. Patton was shaking with excitement, quietly squeaking and squealing with his other hand over his mouth. Roman chuckled lightly at Patton’s reaction, pulling him even closer.

Their lips met another time, this one slower and deeper. They sighed happily, both pulling away after a few more moments. They smiled lovingly at each other, touching their foreheads together.

“I love you,” Patton said.

“I love you too, my sunbeam.”

The last rays of sunlight faded away, the stars coming out to see another kiss shared by the two.

----------

i like the idea but I executed it poorly, I am sorry

Also I got the “happily ever after” thing from a post about @notveryglittery and prompt nonnie, so yeah

Hope you enjoyed my bad writing

#roman sanders #patton sanders #royality #proposal #fluff #sanders sides fan fiction #my writing #sanders sides #thomas sanders #sunset of love #liz writes

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spacedimentio · 5 years

Text

The Princess in the Tower

Summary: Pink Diamond receives a severe punishment for the first time. Inspired by the end of Together Alone and that one post about the light deprivation theory.

Rating: T

Genre: Horror/Tragedy

Warnings: Abusive parental behavior, claustrophobia, starvation, panic attacks, and sensory deprivation.

“Pink, can’t you behave yourself?” Yellow sighed, drawing her away from the open-mouthed crowd into a private room.

“What? What’d I do now?” Pink pouted, wrenching herself out of Yellow’s grasp the second the door closed behind them. “I thought you liked it when I made jokes like that!”

The elder diamond pinched the bridge of her nose. “Not in public, Pink! Where others can see us, we must be poised and perfect! We are flawless beings, and you have to act like it!”

“I don’t understand; you don’t want me to be myself?” The little diamond’s eyes watered.

“No, that’s not what I-”

“Starlight, Sunshine, what’s going on here?”

Yellow almost flinched. White was peering around the corner, smiling. “N-Nothing, White. Pink is just being foolish again,” she said, standing a little straighter.

The ground shook with White’s titanic footsteps as she walked towards them; Yellow would swear on her gem that she could be as quiet as a whisper when she wanted to be.

“It doesn’t sound like nothing,” White tittered, opening the door to the ballroom a little and looking out for a moment. “Those gems seem awfully upset.”

Pink rolled her eyes. “I don’t see why. It was just a harmless joke.” Her gaze fell to the floor as she sulked; a long, black fingernail went under her chin and raised it up again.

“What, exactly, did you say, Starlight?” White asked in a soft voice, leaning over her with her head cocked to the side slightly. Yellow took a subtle step away; the little wretch didn’t have the sense to be afraid.

“I said that that hessonite looked like she’d been caught in an engine exhaust,” Pink said innocently.

“Oh, Starlight…” White straightened, clicking her tongue.

“What? It’s true, isn’t it?” Pink threw up her arms, exasperated. “Seriously, what was her outfit even supposed to be?”

“That hessonite is one of my best commanders, and now I’ll have to do extra work to mollify her,” White replied, giving a gentle poke to Pink’s cheek. Smiling, as always.

Pink huffed, turning away and crossing her arms. “Some of those gems thought it was funny…”

“Regardless, it’s improper to say such things. …Right, Sunshine?”

Yellow stiffened. “Yes. I’ve told her again and again to watch her manners.”

“Perhaps you need to do more to make. it. stick.” White’s eyes locked onto hers for one long, terrifying moment, until Yellow averted her gaze. The massive diamond turned and began to leave.

“Is that really…” Yellow started.

White looked back over her shoulder, wagging a finger. “Ah, ah, ah. No buts, Sunshine.”

Yellow lowered her head. “Yes, of course, White…”

Pink watched White depart. “What’s she talking about, Yellow?” she questioned, peering up at her with curious eyes.

“Come along, Pink.” Yellow pulled her by the arm, keeping her eyes locked ahead of her.

“Where are you taking me? To my room?” The little diamond struggled to resist.

“No.”

“Yellow, c’mon! You’re hurting me!”

“Please be quiet, Pink. It’s for your own good.”

Pink did fall silent, finally noticing the pinched quaver in her older sister’s voice. “…Yellow?”

The door slammed shut, leaving her in complete darkness. Pink banged on the wall, the sound echoing around her. “Yellow! Hey, Yellow! How is this any different from locking me in my room?!”

She gave up and slumped down, unable to hear anything outside. “Stupid clumpy clod face…” she muttered angrily under her breath, rubbing her bruised arm.

She lit up her gem and looked around. The room was big, but completely barren. Not a single pebble to play with.

Sighing, she laid on her back on the floor, occupying herself for some time by making shadow puppets with her fingers. Eventually, she got bored and fell asleep, the rosy light going out.

Time didn’t seem to pass at all in this room. It took her a moment to realize she was even awake. She poked around at the walls and ceiling, guided by the glow of her gem. There wasn’t so much as a single crack.

Pink didn’t notice, at first, when the air began to feel heavy. When it was dark and she couldn’t see anything, the walls seemed to tower over her invisibly. And when she set her gem alight, it helped, but she soon began to feel tired. Sleeping didn’t make her feel any better.

Unease grazed its cold fingers along her spine.

This wasn’t like being sent to her room after all.

She paced in anxious circles, running her hand along the smooth wall. It was getting harder to make her gem glow, harder to make it stay on for longer than a few seconds.

She went to where she thought the door was and pressed her ear to it.

“H-Hello?”

A little louder. “Hello? C-Can anyone hear m-me out there?”

There was nothing, nothing but the sound of her ragged breathing and the echoes of her voice. She whimpered, startling herself with the helpless noise.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

Pink light flooded the room for a brief second. It flickered, grew stronger for a moment, then went out for good. She tried to punch through, tried to bring her diamond strength to bear, but every movement made her body tremble.

“Let me out! Please! Please!” Her desperate cry bounced around the room and faded away.

Fingernails scratched at the solid stone as she sank to the ground. “What’s happening to me…” she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. She felt tears trickling down her cheeks.

There was no reprieve from the darkness. She knew the room was massive, she knew. But it wasn’t, it wasn’t!

She didn’t need air. She couldn’t seem to stop taking rapid breaths.

It was like an ache.

Urgent. Dreadful.

Reaching to the very core of her being.

She needed to get out. She needed to get out right NOW

How long had she been in here

How long how long HOW LONG

Her limbs refused to move.

weak

what was this

w h y

it hurt it hurt oh stars please make it stop please

she couldn’t think over the roar of the dark she couldn’t breathe please please she was

sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry

click

Just when she was at her limit, just when her form would have crumbled to dust, a bright white light turned on.

Pink gasped, suddenly blinded. Her cheek lay against the freezing cold floor, and some unknown primordial instinct urged her to get up, to turn towards the light. She managed to move a little and collapsed on her side.

The crushing pressure lightened considerably. Relieved tears slid down her face.

The light clicked off.

And it began again.

The door opened, and Pink didn’t notice.

She was curled up on the ground, her eyes staring at nothing as she shook uncontrollably.

“Oh, Pink…” Blue Diamond whispered, rushing forward and gathering her catatonic sister into her arms.

“…B-Blue?” The word barely made a sound.

“It’s ok, Pink, it’s alright. It’s over now,” Blue murmured, holding her tighter to her chest.

Pink sobbed, clinging to Blue feebly.

“Oh please. It was only two months,” Yellow said, coming a little closer.

“Yellow!” Blue snapped venomously, glaring. The golden diamond stayed where she was, sighing.

“What…” Pink tried to raise her head. “What…”

“Shhh…” Blue gently ran her fingers through her sister’s tangled hair. “Light is a gem’s energy source…” she explained, voice soft. “Without it…”

It clicked.

Pink managed to turn and look at Yellow.

Yellow wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“Rose?”

Pearl’s voice snapped her out of her reverie. Rose Quartz blinked and turned to her companion. “Hmm?”

“Are you alright? You looked kind of lost.” The corrupted agate they’d captured a few hours ago lay bubbled in her inquisitive hands.

“I’m fine,” Rose lied.

The night was moonless, and it was hard to see. She stared up at the sky, watching, not breathing, waiting for the clouds to move.

…Yes, there were still stars.

Still stars.

And crickets. And the howls of night creatures. And the low murmur of voices in the village.

She was never going back.

A/N: I’m sorry (I’m not sorry). As soon as I saw the episode and a post reminding us that light is a Gem’s energy source, the idea that the dark room Stevonnie got thrown in might, in fact, be a starvation chamber just clicked with me. And if there’s one thing I can’t resist writing, it’s suffering.

Blue and Yellow Diamond are some of my favorite characters, and I’ve been writing them for a while now. I never forget that they’re capable of doing some truly awful things; even so, I never once imagined that they were capable of torturing their own beloved sister, if that’s truly what that room is. All I can think is that it’s something that White did to them in the past.

Knowing how devious and cruel Homeworld is (gem crusher from Friend Ship, anyone?), I decided there was probably something to prevent gems from growing so weak that they poof, if so desired. The light stays on just long enough to keep them from losing consciousness. Otherwise I’d imagine that they’d eventually lose their inside-their-gem consciousness as well, and become a lifeless rock.

What a way to start off the new year, eh?

#steven universe #pink diamond #spoilers #yellow diamond #white diamond #blue diamond #su #su spoilers #mine #mywriting #oneshot #2019

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