Aftershocks (closed w. Paddy)

[7XB]

They recognized her smile as what it was, doing their best to return it, though more than anything it came across as unusually timid. 'Honestly,’ they chastised themself harshly, ‘ you are being ridiculous, you know!’ This wasn't like them at all. 'You can trust Padparadscha, even with..with this!’ Right?..

She did seem quite interested, her bright and observant eyes wider than they'd ever seen- threatening to pop free, practically. But how to begin unravelling such a complicated story? A story that was only partially theirs, at that.

“It..well, when it happened doesn't really matter..” 7XB knew that there was no use in lying to the little Sapphire, not that they wanted to, but there were a few things that the Quartz wished to withhold, at least for the time being, which wasn't in any way lying. A good out, if they did say so themselves; That way, if things ever went awry, their would be little enough to go on. “All these centuries, I'd never even really thought much about it, you know? I've never needed it- I still don't.” They were quick to add proudly, more in defense of their own hard-earned reputation than anything, lest she think it was some martial flaw of their own that had led to it. “I suppose it was.. curiosity..that finally got to me, maybe?” They weren't in a good place at the time, one of their rare moments of meloncoly that had opened the door for something so ridiculous. “I never would of agreed if I'd been even half in my right mind.”

They sighed, allowing their head to lull backwards slightly, gravity pulling their shaggy locks downward over their shoulder. There was more to tell, but every word was like pulling teeth. “I.. didn't..enjoy it.”

[Paddy]

The sapphire listened carefully as they spoke. At their claim that it didn't matter when, her impulse was to oppose it-- she wanted every detail, every little question in her mind to be answered. But, she didn't want to cut them off and scare them away from being open with her. 

Their vagueness told her practiced ear that there was a lot they weren't saying. She could understand why they might still be trying to skirt around some things, about this discussion or otherwise. But, it gave her a bit of a pang to know that the two of them were still not yet close enough to be entirely candid, that she couldn't yet have the answers she'd been craving from the moment she'd begun learning about this enigmatic quartz. One of those emotions swimming in the back of her mind, she recognized as frustration. By now she had guessed at many things that might have affected 7XB in their past, but she had only a list of assumptions that had spawned from the minuscule crumbs of information they'd provided about themselves.

Was this gem they fused with close enough with them to know their secrets? Who was this gem, and why had her companion been so curious about them that 7XB would consider fusion with them? Other thoughts flitted across her mind. She'd assumed that everything about this connection had been as new to the quartz as it was for her, but what if it wasn't? Those thoughts brought out something else in her frustration, and even hearing that they didn't enjoy it didn't do much to quell that feeling.

Internally she shook it off, reminding herself that she didn't want to dwell on her own feelings at the moment. Her eyes followed their body language; it had been hard enough for them to get to this point in their story, she didn't want to make it more difficult by letting her emotions take the reigns. 

When they finished speaking, her mouth opened, ready to pour questions around them, but she paused for a moment, gears turning in her head while she combed over the words she wanted to say,"You were curious, but not in a right mind? What went wrong?" She tried her best to keep her tone light. Lips pursed, her head tilted. They seemed to be leaving out many of the complexities, but she wondered if there was a way to draw them out. Her fingers began to fidget as her eyes searched them.    

[7XB]

7XB was, putting it mildly, still not very comfortable with talking about themselves, and the more they divulged the truth behind their regrettable fusion, the wider their opened themselves up to her scrutiny, depriving themselves of the protective fortifications they had erected over the centuries. It wasn't an appealing idea, but the memory of how hurt she had been the last time they had pushed her out was still quite vivid in their mind, residual guilt welling up in their chest even now.

“I was.. angry,” they admitted quietly, “and I..I was feeling alone.” They had been in a burning rage that night, searing in a way they seldom ever experienced, when the other gem had stumbled upon them  “They caught meoff guardd with the offer. If I had any sort of sense at the time I never would have agreed. It was a moment of weakness.” The Quartz seemed disgusting with themselves than anything, acidic self hatred welling in their words. They thought that they had put the mounting grief at the loss of their squadmates to bed long ago, though their version of 'dealing’ with something like that was to ignore it completely.

“So we did it, and I.. it..” the Quartz was becoming visibly distressed, “and I..I was gone but I wasn't..we..” They reminded looking down, all those.. was that even them anyway? “Its like I was trapped between-between..like being crushed from the inside, and!.."

[Paddy]

Padparadscha couldn't know the full scope behind their words, but she could see that it only seemed to get harder as they carved deeper into the details. This gem she'd seen face down enormous challenges, who had made such an impression on her with their experience and strength, showed her a depth of vulnerability in these moments. From the words they'd said to her in the past, she knew they struggled through things like that again and again. The sapphire was lost for words; theirs had impacted her, not only for their inherent weight, but for that, in her own ways, she could relate to being angry and alone in a universe like this one. 

The further they spoke, the more tense she felt. Her fidgeting stopped as she focused on what they said. Their words struck her through, and she found herself unable to dwell on her own frustration. The implications about fusion, and the things that could be determined from 7XB's first hand experience, weren't so much on the forefront of her mind, but thoughts about it flitted across. Their few heavy words betrayed something more about them that she wished she could heal. It wasn't only her Pink Court philosophies, but knowing this gem she'd come to care for could speak so harshly of themselves, and that they had felt so incredibly under pressure; she could not only imagine that they still carried that weight-- it could be felt in their tone, in their motion.

Her whole body stopped, and she turned to look at them as gentle flakes of snow drifted around them. She stood speechlessly, unable to put her thoughts into words quite yet. There were more questions bursting into her mind now than there had been all day, but she found none of them could pass her lips as she tried to think of anything adequate to say. She gripped their hand tightly, before letting go, and stepping closer to pull her arms around them,"Weakness? 7XB, you don't have a single weak fiber in you," She murmured,"You're the boldest quartz I ever met," The sapphire was under the impression that they had the nerve to face down anything, even something like fusion, even talking about it. Was there a way to adequately explain the depth of her admiration for them, and their honesty? Her brows turned up at the corners, she knew that this was something they couldn't talk about with any other gem, but she wondered if they want to keep talking about it. The sapphire waited for them to decide as she embraced them,"Say whatever you need to say," 

[7XB]

7XB wasn't surprised as the Sapphire freed her hand from their vice-tight grip- they would have expected nothing less after the secrets their had just divulged, but they couldn't help but tense up somewhat as she did, prepared for the barrage of judgement that was sure to come. So it was easy to imagine just how surprising it was to find the Sapphire's arms wrapped around their middle. “W-wha..”

Her words struck them, exposed and raw as they were, right to the core, affecting them in a way the Quartz themselves would have deemed frivolous on any other occasion. “Pad.. Padparadscha you..do you really think that? How can..” They realized just how foolish and sentimental those words, trembling horribly, sounded leaving their mouth. After everything they had just revealed, that was what she thought of them?  That they were strong, despite their actions? Their lip quivered, “B-but.. I'm..what I did was wrong..It was weak.” Every admission was worthy of condemnation, at least in their own view. How could the Sapphire feel anything but disgust for them, the same distain they felt for themselves?

"Don't you think I'm..foolish for allowing my emotions to get in the way?" Their voiced continued to crack and waver, what little composure that face melting like butter.

[Paddy]

As they spoke, she rested against them. The corners of her lips drew down as they continued to try to assert their opinion on the matter. The sapphire had never heard them speak like this, but it only seemed to strengthen the grip the gem had on her heart. It hurt to hear their self assessment; they seemed to take it as a truth, while she couldn't disagree more. She hugged them more tightly, as if she were trying to help them stay together. The radiant warmth around them, despite their dissolving composure, was calming. She organized her thoughts as they finished speaking, the side of her face nestled against them, and she closed her eyes as her own emotions surged from the well in her chest.

Whoever the gem they'd fused with was, or whatever circumstances it had been that they alluded to, all that really mattered right now was how 7XB felt about it. Many fusions she had met were gems who had decided to shove aside everything and rebel; but that wasn't the case for this quartz, a steadfast retainer of yellow court philosophies and skill. Part of her had to wrestle with her previous rationalizations about fusion-- but, despite what she thought she felt about the taboo they'd broken, she found she could only be impressed by this gem. Where other gems had failed to hold onto their loyalty, 7XB remained a dependable member of the empire. Whatever secrets they'd shared with that other gem, they shared this one with her now. Her eyes fluttered open.   

"How could you even think such a thing? I would never," Her tone began a bit strong, almost as if she were irritated, but it became softer as she spoke on,"You're much stronger than all those gems who are too afraid to seek their own answers," She said matter-of-factly, then shifted to look up at them from where she was. So what if they broke a rule or two to get those answers? She did all the time. Would the quartz think she was weak if they knew what she'd really been thinking all this time? Or if they knew how many times she'd broken unspoken rules to try something new, how many lines she'd crossed to get answers for her questions? It wasn't a contest where it came to her lack of martial prowess or her relatively fragile thresholds, but she considered herself to be resilient where it was needed for her own pursuits. If they were weak, then she was weak. But that wasn't right.

"You're the strongest gem I know. You're perfect, everything about you. Your curiosity, your emotions, are no exception-- that's why we're here, no? I'm-- I'm glad you told me. I'm--" She didn't want to let go of them, and just kept trying to find the right words that could express her own feelings on the matter, but still felt any speech was too inadequate. Her last words were almost too soft, as if she were speaking to herself,"--I'm really glad you're here," Despite everything in the universe that could keep them apart, here they were. 

      

[7XB]

“I..but..” Was that not what they deserved? The Sapphire was so adamant in her denial of what they had said, but why? Their own shame was blinding that it surprised them to hear anything but their own judgemental voices, until a smaller, familiar voice managed to cut though their haze of self loathing: Padparadscha's. For the first time, 7XB felt entirely thankful for the strange connection between the two of them, basking in that intimate comfort without any doubt or worry as to what it may mean for the future. That she thought them perfect, strong even, in spite of everything they'd admitted to up until this point, was astounding, and the intimacy between the two of them only continued to grow as her embrace lingered.

They turned their gaze down towards the sapphire, hoping to catch her eyes, only to find their cheeks wet, quizzled as they wiped the salty leakage away with the knuckles of their left hand, “You..you're sweet,” they began somewhat shakily, though their voice seemed to find it's way halfway through. “I'm..I'm glad you are here too, Padparadscha. Here with me.” Maybe the universe would pull them apart in time, but for now it only seemed to be bringing them together.

Looking down at her, the Quartz found themselves reminded of what else needed to be said, cupping her chin gently. “It was different with you, Padparadscha. I mean..I know we didn't..you know. But up into, you know?”

[Paddy]

As they peered down to her, the sapphire met their gaze, and instantly noticed the glimmer of moisture running along their eyelids and cheeks. Her first impulse was alarm; she tensed, brows floating upward. But, as they spoke, her body relaxed again. Even in the face of towering monstrosities, treacherous terrain, and cumbersome physical trauma, she didn't recall ever seeing them allow themselves to release tears. This was the most exposed she'd ever seen this gem, and she was stunned.

While 7XB caressed her face, she became entranced by their vivid gaze, their rich timbre. As they spoke, her focused gaze was dazzled with the sight of this quartz who had put so much trust into her, lips hanging slightly open. Her eyes trailed down and watched their lips move as they spoke. Hearing her name in their voice still gave her a warm elation. One of her arms slipped away from their side, then she moved to place her hand on theirs, and gripped as they finished speaking.

For a quiet beat, she searched their expression. It took a moment for the implications of their words to sink in. Her eyes became more narrow, and she gave a playful smirk, "Dancing was fun," She said in her velvety tone,"You made me feel so free," and to think, if she had left the quartz back on the moonbase, would she have ever experienced something like that? Or even this exact moment, where she felt so close to them? 

Of course, she wondered if it would ever happen again. Even if she didn't blame them for their curiosity (she was too curious herself to pass judgement on anyone else), it remained a taboo, especially for a gem like her. She had nothing to compare or contrast that experience with, and probably wouldn't have another trial run-- it would be up to 7XB's experience to fill in the gaps about how fusion fit into this phenomenon, if it did. "I wish there was a way we could've...experimented more," She mused quietly, trying her best not to pressure them with questions now. Her eyes got a little wide,"--I mean, to figure out what made it different..."

[7XB]

'Diamonds,’ they thought with a quiet chuckle at the Sapphire's look of clear concern as they dabbed away the moisture, 'I must look like I'm falling apart.’ What a sight it must be, 7XB thought, for her to see them, a quartz, like this, though after what she had said, they couldn't help but feel.. comfortable, despite this rare moment of raw exposure. They knew, with Padparadscha, at least, that there would be no judgements. Steadily, though, the large gem was finding their footing once again.

“Fun,” They had always seen it as a rather pointless thing, but in this instance it seemed more apt a description than anything tye quartz could think of themselves. “Yeah, it was fun, wasn't it?” The clearing of their throat, thick fingers lifting to brush the tangled mess of damp cream sprouting from the scalp back into the position, it harkened a return to their normal state, or as 'normal’ as they could ever be while so relaxed. Free..well, that was something else. Though they had never felt particularly enslaved, their certainly was a weightlessness that accompanied their dance.

“Well, there is no telling..” they began carefully, tiptoeing around the root of the matter as well, “we might get the chance to..uhm.. figure it out.” Why was it different?

[Paddy]

It seemed that their moment of emotional release was cooling down, and Padparadscha was feeling more at ease herself. She felt rather proud of herself for being able to handle their confession, and proud of them for being able to make it; they'd both gotten through a tough discussion without causing each other too much distress. The notion was enough to keep her buzz of elation growing. 

Their agreement gave her a full smile. After talking to them about it, she could see those moments of fun in a different light. It had been a learning experience for both of them, a wealth of data could be extracted-- but there was more to it. While they fixed their hair, she simply peered at them, and remembered a question that she'd asked herself back when she first met the quartz; never would she have imagined back then that she would grow so close to them that they would reveal the answer of that question to her, but now she couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose this. A sense of a kind of mutual understanding with them, despite everything that was different between them, grew every time she learned more about them. 

Her brow quirked at their last sentence, suddenly she wasn't sure, her mind began to race. Was she overthinking the words, or were they implying what she thought they were? "Oh! Well..." her head tilted, she glanced out over the pier as it stretched into the bay, then her eyes moved out over the direction they had been heading,"I suppose we don't need a cube to experiment," her gaze flicked back over to them, an almost devious glimmer in her eyes as she tried not to just say what she was thinking. She trusted them, it was more a matter of whether she trusted herself. 

The sapphire gave their side a bit of a squeeze before letting her arm slip back down to her own side, and she gave a step back,"So, being as experienced as you are, how do you think we would begin to go about figuring it out?" The hint of a smirk floated on her lips. It was technically an investigation after all, and there were answers yet to be gained. 

[7XB]

Her coyness would not go unnoticed, pulling a wider smile to 7XB’s lips. They chuckled, “As much as I as your eagerness is appreciated, Your Clarity,” the quartz soldier teases lightly,” I do believe there is a certain loose end we should locate, don't you think?” Diamonds only knew what manner of mischief the bullish Amethyst has gotten into out from under their watchful gaze. “For all we know, 6UE might have reduced half the city to rubble by now.” While the Quartz enjoyed the time they had spent together without any twitch of regret, and would most certainly enjoy indulging it once again when duty allowed, but they both knew that things must always, eventually, return to normal.

Or, whatever counted as normal between the two gems now, anyway.

“Have you had any contact with her?” 7XB well knew she hasn't exactly had much time to communicate, but you never knew with the advanced technology gems possessed these days. Ah, they remembered simpler days.

[Paddy]

The sapphire hadn't managed to completely forgot about her amethyst bodyguard, wherever the gem was, but she pursed her lips at 7XB's reminder. A sinking feeling accompanied the words, and despite her effort to keep her mood, her spirits lost some air as her elation became more grounded. After this, she would have to pretend she didn't feel as strongly about this quartz as she did; or did she? Who could tell a sapphire what to do, other than a Diamond? She stewed about it while eyeing them for a moment. Despite her thoughts, 7XB's full smile and genuine words imbued the aristocrat with enough energy to keep her feeling breezy.

"Hmph, well, perhaps that would make it easier to locate her," She quipped off handedly as she brought out her holotech panel, and began to narrow her eyes as she noted that the gem had sent her even more coded messages since the last time she'd checked; her screen was flooded over with gemmic symbol patterns in 6UE's noticeable signature. "Plenty of contact," the short gem mused as she scrolled through the messages,"She's been accosted by a group of humans who seems to have taken offense to her and are notably persistent, but managed to get herself within striking distance of our position, and warns there might be trouble. In other news, she claims to have uncovered something shocking and important," Padpara wondered what it was that 6UE would have for her; the gem never seemed to show much interest in her work, it was a bit strange but welcome to think the amethyst might have actually found a way to be productive, despite the vague instruction she'd been offered.

There was the impulse to grab their hand as she turned to move in the last known point that the amethyst had been at, but she wasn't sure-- she didn't trust that 6UE would be as steadfastly unquestioning as 7XB's charming group of subordinates, if she were to pop up sooner than expected. As much as she wanted to bring her connection with them into the light, to stop sneaking around and to treat it as legitimate, there was the nagging in the back of her mind that her actions might have dire consequences. She gave a breathy sigh as she stared at the gem for a moment, gave them a sober smile, and made off into the direction of the coordinate.

[7XB]

It would have been a lie to say that they weren't as disappointed as she, but this unusual buoyancy they were experiencing greatly outweighed the disappointment. They felt.. light, if that was the proper word to describe it, as light as a Quartz their size could ever possibly feel due to their sheer weight, anyway. As expected, though, it seemed as if 6UE had managed to get herself into quite a lot of trouble.

“Well, I suppose we need to locate her as soon as possible.” They were relieved that she understood the need to, for lack of a better word, separate their intimate moments from the work that needed to be done, though in this instance it wasn't exactly easy, as this entire operation had essentially been a plot to spend time further figuring out their connection.

But the time for that was past, and 7XB found themselves genuinely curious as to exactly what it was the bumbling purple gem had found, if anything- hopefully it wasn't as big a waste of time as the commanding gem feared.

[Paddy]

The sapphire gave a curt nod at their words as she moved, and tried to get herself back into a working mind. As she scrolled around on her holopanel, she kept slipping passed the icon she needed, too preoccupied until she finally pinned it down began to relay a message to Pink Pearl. "I'm planning a hasty extraction just in case the situation will be difficult to resolve, the cruiser will be headed toward our coordinates," She mentioned for 7XB to hear, hoping to offer at least a little peace of mind in light of the fact that her subordinate had been in this situation because of her. Though, would they blame her for wanting some honest, quality talk with them?


Ultimately, a hasty extraction also meant a hasty return back to the reality of her situation, away from the exhilarating experience that was being with this incredible quartz. The sapphire stewed harder on ways to keep herself in 7XB's loop than she did on whatever was going on with 6UE. But as she continued walking, leaving the pier behind with the tender moments and recent memories, the guilt for the way she'd been treating the other quartz in her life began to feel more potent. The amethyst had been putting forth an honest effort, despite the way she'd been tossed aside by her mistress, and Padparadscha couldn't help but to feel a bit of admiration for that if nothing else. Soon, her expression became more dour as guilt polluted her thoughts.   
 

The coast continued to stretch toward the dark horizon, and she continued to think as she strode along the rail, which connected into a taller stone wall, blocking her view from the quiet waters as the path curved, guiding them more toward the internal city. She hovered near 7XB, almost unconsciously drifting closer to them as she walked, but kept her eyes flickering between her panel and the walkway that was in front of her. 

Her thoughts would soon be interrupted; nearby, sirens were sounding off, bouncing through the concrete walls of the city in a long whine before disappearing into the ambient air. She recognized the sound, from the same day she'd tried to hunt down Hematite, but wasn't completely sure of their implications. All she knew was that it was unpleasant to hear.


"Over here!" The sapphire halted, and swiveled toward the muted sound of Amethyst's voice. First, she saw only the top of her beanie, then the gem peaked out from the top of the wall dividing the drop into the water from the sidewalk, "Uh!" the gem ducked back behind the wall."They're right there...more of em probably comin'," Padparadscha glanced around, but didn't see anyone immediately suspicious. There were many more humans traversing this area, and she noted a group of them prowling around the corner; they seemed to be wearing disparate, casual attire, though one was half-dressed in a cumbersome, bright red mascot outfit, and another was the very same officer who had bothered her and 7XB earlier. Amethyst motioned for the other gems to join her behind the pale stone divider.  

[7XB]

Truthfully, the Quartz had thought only cursorily about 6UE in the time since Padparadscha and themselves and intentionally slipped away into the crowd to pursue their own method of investigation without her interference. If anything, they saw it as doing the young and reckless gem a favor: As a quartz she would be expected to not only to work together with other Quartz, but be able to function and think independently, within reason, on their own, dependant upon the mission. Tye Amethyst was, as 7XB could tell, fairly young, but the universe waited for no gem, and the experienced were the only ones who stood any chance of survival. They kept easy pace with Padparadscha, nearly on autopilot themselves as they pondered their own experiences, though they were able to adjust their own pace as she slowed, maintaining approximately the same consistent distance.

The voice coming from the other side of the concrete divided set them on edge, dividing from the hidden Amethyst across the gathering group of humans, quickly recognizing the troublesome one from some hours ago. “Diamonds, what have you gotten into?” There would be time and a place for questions, as there were no similiarly dressed humans in sight this time.

“Get behind the wall, Your Clarity.” Clearly a switch had been flipped. “6UE, lift her.”