Got a Spare? (C: Chip, Bloodstone) -Fin-

[Paddy]

The sapphire gave a bright smile as he talked about their shared Diamond. Though she'd always been reticent to call herself an envoy of Pink Diamond, she supposed that she was rather close to the leader of the colony. After all, it had been the immaculate Pink Diamond herself who had given Padparadscha the chance to employ her truth senses in her everyday work. Still, it was an odd thing for her to hear, however encouraging it was. His sincerity was refreshing, and somewhat baffling, after spending much of her time maneuvering around gems with less good-intention to share. She took a quiet moment to ruminate on the things he'd said.

Morion was a gem that she'd never had the chance to meet, but from the way Chip spoke of him, she thought that he must've been an influential and crucial part of the colonization effort. Why did he leave? How could he leave his station, and his trusted apprentice? When the fire opal finished answering her, his extension came as something of a surprise. Her eyebrows went up for a moment, before floating back down, and her eyes flickered away. The thing she was curious about now may have been the worst thing she could ask this gem to talk about right now. But, his offer, like everything he said, was filled with a bona fide honesty that she hadn't encountered in a very long time. "Morion sounds like a praiseworthy gem. I've been wondering, since you first mentioned him...well I mean, if it's not too much...where has he gone?" 

[Chip the Fire Opal]

That was exactly the one question, that Chip didn't want to answer. Morion choose to do something, that probably wasn't in the best interest of Diamonds. Chip couldn't pretend to know, what Diamonds would want Morion to do, but he was reasonably sure, that it wasn't what he's done.

"I'm not sure it's for me to speak about. I was his apprentice after all. He left Earth... on his ship. But I don't think I can tell you more, I'm really sorry."

He told her what he felt was ok to tell. Perhaps someone else will tell her more, but not Chip. Morion never forbid him to speak about it, but then again it was something that shouldn't be spelled out. Morion might return to Homeworld one day...

[Paddy]

Her cheeks flushed pink when she realized she'd crossed a line she'd known better than to cross in the first place. She clasped her hands together, trying to seem a little more dignified through the tinge of her embarrassing mistake. Though she was terribly curious, she could sense the hesitation in Chips voice, and decided to leave the subject at that. What little he did say seemed to reveal quite a lot to her-- Morion was alive, and he was somewhere in the universe doing something covert. It still seemed odd, there was something off about it all, but there was no reason to press this kind gem further than she needed to. This wasn't the interrogation room, and he wasn't a criminal by any means, as far as she knew. 

"Oh! No, I'm sorry for imposing the question upon you," She replied tersely. The sapphire couldn't know how offended Chip was, and she supposed that she would've been quite offended herself, if someone had asked her a similar question. However, his tone was without wrath, it was more withheld than anything. Ready to forget her misstep, she cleared her throat,"Ah, well, so...you protect Empire City in his stead, I would suppose that would mean he's passed the torch to you, an apprentice becomes the master? I once had a mentor myself, its a rare phenomenon for us gems," She smiled, and hoped with a bit of nervousness that the slight change in subject matter was appropriate. 

[Chip the Fire Opal]

Chip just shook his head. He wasn't angry at all.

"There's no problem, I encouraged you to ask question, so you did. There is nothing wrong about that. I just can't answer that question, that's all. I have no problem talking about anything, but it feels wrong to speak about others... without them."

He tried to clarify. He felt bad that he couldn't talk about this, but it just didn't felt right...

"Well... Bloodstone is now lord and protector of Empire City. I'm just... trying to help. Not as much as I used to. I'm young gem, I lack the experience to lead anything... I still consider myself a protector of Empire City. I left for a moment... and suddenly highly ranking gems are being attacked on streets..."

He sounded angry with the last sentence. It was his failure after all...

[Paddy]

"I understand," She managed, though she couldn't shake her embarrassment. Delicate conversation was her job in a sense-- though perhaps Chip wouldn't know it, the sapphire held herself to a higher standard than she'd just presented. She loathed letting her curiosity get the better of her. There were so many things she wanted to know, but very few paths to actually acquiring that knowledge in a manner that wasn't uncouth-- outside of the interrogation room, anyway. Still, she was glad that the fire opal seemed to be taking it well. It wasn't all together clear what he'd do if she'd gotten him into a bad mood.



She was relieved when he took up the thread of conversation. What he said made her consider Bloodstone more carefully. She wondered what sort of gem this was, though perhaps she'd soon be finding that out. The gems bound to Earth were wildcards, she had no idea what to really expect. Chip talked highly of this gem, she hoped that she could trust that. Though soon she saw a change in the fire opal that she hadn't expected-- the thought seemed to grate at him. Again she felt a pique of embarrassment, and tried to think of a way to steer the conversation.

 "B-but you're here now!" She tried to reassure him, and gestured with a lithe hand to the buildings around them."I suppose it's a testament to your importance to this endeavor, as protector of Empire City. Keeping humans and gems in check all at once-- a weighty job, you seem quite experienced with it," Truthfully, the sapphire didn't know what the significance of Empire City was outside of the fact that it was a rather large gathering of humans in one spot. But there had to be good reason for gems to be here, so she simply moved on. "Leading gems can be tough work, I can't say I'm too experienced in that realm myself,"  

[Chip the Fire Opal]

"Experienced... yeah... some gems told, me, that they are thousands of years old... or even tens of thousands. It's incredibly long time. Humans live for 75 years, give or take... when some of those gems were already quite old, humans were still using rocks as their primary tools. For humans 10 years is long time. For me... let's just say that I'm one of the last gems that emerged from Kindergartens on Earth... if not THE last. I think I'll be 4 soon... so I can't really say I'm experienced in anything... just do what I can... and what I think is right..."

He said with brutal honesty.

"But, I don't think that's important right now. We should get your ship fixed. I still think that Bloodstone is our best bet, but I have few ideas if it fails... "

Chip knew about a lot of things on Earth. Not only was he incredibly mobile, but he also lived with the greatest spy on Earth...

[Paddy]

Padparadscha's eyes widened as Chip gave the revelation. "4 years?" The sapphire herself was young by gem standards, but she had a few hundred years in her time. 4 years seemed incredibly young to her now, and already this gem had seen so much. Gems turning on gems, corruptions, the labyrinthine world that surrounded him. Not to mention being left behind by his mentor, and turned into jewelry. She reeled for a moment, processing this, and the fact that it seemed Chip was ready to move on all together from that topic. While her curiosity was still bubbling, she decided to leave her response short. "You do it well," She gave a curt nod, then turned her attention onto his next words.

"Ah, well, I agree about the ship-- My pearl has yet to get back to me," She was becoming a bit worried, about Pink Pearl, and the ship, though she didn't let that forth,"I hope your comrade will be wiling to assist, but in the case that he isn't, I'd like to hear what you have in mind?" 

[Chip the Fire Opal]

"Yeah, give or take... I don't actually know the proper day I emerged. It took me some time to learn how time is measured on this planet. Not the mention it took me weeks to approach the first human city... I was afraid. But that's not that important right now."

He explained. It was difficult to think about those few weeks. Mostly hiding, fearing for his own life... bad times, bad memories. But he wasn't that gem anymore.

"He might be, but as I said, no promises. Not to mention, that he might be wiling to help us, but unable to do so... but we will see once we get there. But if he is unwilling to help us I know about several crashed ships, that might contain some of the parts you're looking for, I also might have some contacts, that owe me a favour... and if everything else fail I am capable of flying through space... so I may be able to carry you to the moon... "

Which would also be great excuse to finally meet his Diamond...

[Paddy]

Chip was a very honest gem, this was something the sapphire found was rare, especially on Earth. She could tell it made him uncomfortable to bring up the past, but he was open about it nonetheless-- for the most part. She listened intently as he spoke, and supposed that one would have to adjust very quickly in order to survive on the surface of this planet. The sapphire herself would never be able to open so much about her past, lest she smear what little renown she had been able to build up for herself since Pink Diamond spared her. Padpara gave a nod to regard what he said, and listened as he went on to tell her the idea he had in mind.

The crashed ships sounded dangerous, though she had done some rummaging before. If things came down to it, she'd give it a go. The prospect of hunting down Chip's contacts seemed promising, but still, it meant he was offering to expend his favors for a gem that he'd only just known-- it'd be unfortunate if he had to give that up just to help her get her ship fixed. At his final offer, an amused smile broke across her expression. "That's a far way to fly!" She chuckled, though he didn't seem to be joking, she found it charming that this young defender would go so far for her. "Truly, thank you Chip. My vessel may be down but my spirits are higher knowing that I have some options! Though I'd hate to put you through so much trouble, here's to hoping that Bloodstone will have something for us. If not, well, I'll be glad for this tour of the city, the M-tower seems to be an important place of interest," 

[Chip the Fire Opal]

"Well, to be fair I never actually tried to fly in space... seems... difficult. And cold... I don't like being cold. But I should be able to do it."

He admitted. Once he got really close, but changed his mind, the cold empty darkness of space just wasn't appealing. Not to mention that Homeworld ships patrolled around Earth now, and he didn't know if they wouldn't fire first, and ask question later. Chip really didn't want to have to explain why he shot imperial ship out of the sky.

"M-tower is the seat of lord and protector of Empire city. It's the place that always stood as a guarantee of safety for the city. It's a small town on it's own... you can find pretty much everything inside... but it's also heavily defended... it is impossible to come neat it unnoticed."

As he was saying that, they walked near the old fountain. Chip had to smile a little. This old fountain was favourite of his friend Ice. And it was quite nice...  and at least 2 hundred years old...

[Paddy]

"I've only entered space from the safety of a ship," She made her own admission,"Though it is quite a sight." The city too was quite a sight as the two gems moved along the avenue, dazzling lights and busy evening commuters filling the air around them. She'd never really appreciated it before, but she had to hand it to the humans-- they may have been less adept than gemkind, but what they managed here was impressive for organic lifeforms. She glanced up at M-tower as they approached it, the shining construction who presided over the city. She wondered what this lord and protector, Bloodstone, would say to her about her predicament.  

The sapphire took note of the fountain as the two of them sauntered past it. It seemed strange, but elegant to her. She wondered if it had a function other than to be looked at, though she let her ruminations be quiet as Chip spoke about the tower. Her eyes grew in size as he continued to speak, and she blinked. She'd never caught wind of this place before, and she wondered how covert the operations there at M-tower had to be for an aristocrat such as herself to be left out of the loop. Morion, she surmised, was a secretive gem.

"It sounds...impressive!" She stated, a bit of excitement tinging her tone. "I suppose it's safe to say that Bloodstone will know we've arrived before we meet him,"   

[Chip the Fire Opal]

"Morion would know of your arrival to Earth as soon, as you would... but I'm not sure, if Bloodstone does that... it's certainly within his powers now... it would be wise to suspect, that he knows..."

He said, while they were still walking. The M-tower was getting closer and closer with every step, until they were suddenly in front of it. The panorama of high building seemed to distort the distance estimate a little. Chip went straight to the entrance, which was carefully guarded by two human quartzes - guards. He knew one of them, the other was probably new?

"Greetings... I'm Chip the Fire Opal, the Rising Phoenix, the Eternal Flame, protector of Empire city and apprentice to Morion... please, tell Bloodstone, that I brought an envoy from Pink Diamond who wishes to speak with him..."

He was probably too formal, but he had no idea, if Bloodstone was the same Bloodstone he knew or if he changed... then again he might as well be in his old shack and left this place almost empty....

[Bloodstone]

While the staff was admittedly smaller than it had been recently, there was still a decent amount of people at the Tower. Word eventually reached Bloodstone who quickly made their way down to the lobby where she met Chip and Paddy

"Chip! Good to see you!" Bloodstone smiled and hugged her old friend, it had been awhile since the two of them had crossed paths. Padparadascha on the other hand, the two gems were not as familiar with each other.

"So I heard that you have an envoy of Pink Diamond..? Im assuming thats who your friend is. Come, I have a room where we can discuss stuff."

Bloodstone smiled and gestured for them to follow her, some of the staff keeping an eye on them as they made their way to a room with a conference table, refreshments, etc.

[Paddy]

As the two of them approached the tower, Padpara was in awe of just how enormous this tower was up close. It made her dizzy to try to look up the sleek building that loomed up into the indigo sky. When Chip announced their arrival, she awaited the reveal of this important figure she'd yet had a chance to meet. When the tall gem appeared before her, she looked them up and down, then smiled.  The pink-court gem blushed a bit at again being referred to as her Diamond's envoy, though she didn't try to feign modesty at it. Instead, she regarded Bloodstone, gave a delicate curtsy, and a quick, but perfect, salute.

"Padparadscha 10C8A 8QE, Headquarters Court of Law affiliate. You must be the Lord of M-tower, an honor to make your acquaintance. Your reputation precedes you!" She beamed in her clear tone. Then, she turned to give Chip a smirk that betrayed some of her giddiness. It was certainly an honor to be standing here in front of the M-tower after hearing so much about it, and now she was being invited in to get a look at this feat of gemkind architecture, while also getting to learn more about this mysterious Lord of Empire City. She clasped her hands in front of her, and followed Bloodstone, glancing around to get a good look at the interior before they came to the conference room. She spied the seating arrangement, but opted to wait to follow the other gem's lead-- Earth conventions were still somewhat foreign to her. 

[Chip the Fire Opal]

"It's good to see you again."

He smiled. Bloodstone was one of his oldest friends after all. Also it was interesting seeing, how he was doing now, when he was the Lord of Empire city.

He didn't need to introduce Padparadscha, she done so herself. And in her own style. Were all Sapphires like this? All he met surely were...

"So, how is this position treating you? Must be difficult, right? Empire city was the most protected city on this planet... and from what I saw there are some, who thought, that just because the big ship is missing, they can do what they like now... I taught them otherwise... well some of them... "

He turned his attention to Bloodstone, though je checked on Padparadscha every now and them.