Lars supposed that his main problem was that he never asked the right questions. Don't get him wrong, he asked plenty but they always came off too broad to answer or too sarcastic to be taken seriously. The one which came to mind currently is when they got Stevonie back on the ship, what he had asked was "what happened?" which got him an interesting history lesson via meta-dream but what he had been going for was more along the lines of: "That really sucked so how can we make sure this never happens again?"
Maybe if he had, he wouldn't be worried sick about his crew being crashed on an alien world with an enemy ship not far away. He didn't know if they were safe, captured, in risk of coming into contact with anything hostile, or unable to fix the ship- he groaned in mental agony.
He did know that he was safe-ish and that Emeralds ship was as badly damaged as his. He knew this because he thought he saw it careening out of control alongside the Sun Incinerator (although it's difficult to be observant when you are about to loose your lunch and trying to activate the ships emergency safety bubbles for all of your crew only to be abruptly sucked out of a hole that hadn't been there a second ago.) Also the fact that Emerald was lying on the dirt in front of him tipped him off.
Another question he should have asked was "how long do gems take to reform and how can I stop that from happening?" He had poofed gems before but never stuck around long enough to see how long it took. Emerald had been a glorified rock now for… How do you judge time on a planet with two suns? Lars had found her by accident after he had crawled his was out of the blue moss that may have saved his life or at least cushioned his fall. (He still wasn't sure how 'immortal' he was now). Emeralds shine had filled him with hope that he had found one of his crew or a part of his ship. But I guess he no longer had that kind of luck.
He wish he had left her instead of putting her in his pocket. What was he thinking? Maybe that she would make a good hostage if his crew had been captured but that brought up the problem of how he could stop her from reforming. Would putting her in his hair do it? What if she got stuck in there or reformed and found her way to Earth? Is she awake in there? If he put her back in his pocket, would that be enough to keep her in? His brain decided to play a helpful image of him eating her gem and having her reform inside his stomach; him dying in a grotesque explosion or becoming weirdly man-pregnant.
Seriously WTF brain?! Why do you insist on showing me random nightmare images when I'm awake and minding my own business?
Lars groaned and let himself fall over on his side in a fetal position. He didn't really get 'tired' anymore but he had been walking for a long time. This planet had no high ground what-so-ever the plants were all the same height or shorter and there were no mountains or hills to speak of. How was he supposed to find anything? He had lit a fire and hoped that the smoke would lead someone to him; he didn't even care at this point if it was a member of Emeralds crew. Just someone…
The emerald started to glow.
…Not that someone.
It lifted into the air and the glow started to take shape.
Like really, anyone else would be fine.
The glow snapped into the shape it desired; the Emerald he knew only with a more form-fitting space suit and a grand cape.
Goody-goody gum drops. Where did I put my earplugs?
"OOOOFF CCOLORS!"
"…I'm like the only one here, calm down."
Emerald snarled at his self made cocoon and made the most intimidating pose possible. Lars thought it made her look like a cartoon side villain without any clear part in the over arching story. "I have you know! You and your crew will be shattered as soon as I get you all back to home world. G-" Emerald took a break from her monologue long enough to actually consider her surroundings. Lars wished he had a camera at that moment. Her new cape swished with her frantic movements only to catch on occasional branches, she snarled as she yanked it free but her momentum caused her high-heeled boots to sink into the ground. Serves her right for the stunt she pulled.
"Yah, turns out knocking out our thrusters while we're heading straight for you wasn't the brightest idea on your part." Lars noted while he unfolded himself into a more dignified standing position. "Makes it hard for us to turn and whatnot." Emerald either didn't hear or didn't bother commenting as she dissolved her stylish cape and changed her shoes into something more practical. She stood and tested the fit of her boots before abruptly leg sweeping him. Lars lay disoriented for only a second but it was long enough for her to climb on top of him, pinning his arms above his head.
"What have you done?! Where am I? Where is the Nebula Conqueror? Where is my Sun Incinerator!?"
Although his hands were pinned Lars still managed to count off his responses on his fingers for extra emphasis. "Don't know, don't know, and don't know. Last thing I remember is a panel popping off of the wall next to me and landing on some blue moss-stuff that tried to eat me." Emerald looked at him incredulously. "You did not revert back to your gem form after being ejected from a damaged vessel?" Lars returned the look "I'm not a gem." Emerald reached for something on her hip but only grasped air, whatever it was must have been lost when she poofed, so she corrected the gesture into a fist.
"No alien species is allowed on home world, all 'curiosities' are kept in zoos. You were first spotted in the 45th docking bay in the company of other defective gems. HOW would an alien pet get onto home world and, if they did, why would they then proceed to take a species which is not their own under their protection? If you are attempting to escape justice by arguing that you do not fall under our laws, you will have to come up with a more plausible lie then that. You're obviously a defective pearl! I've seen you store things in your hair." Lars sighed; you know what? He was done. All of his fucks had run out at this point.
She was sitting high enough on his waist for his legs to come up and wrap around her torso, tugging her loose enough to free his hands. His elbow came up hard against her gem which stunned her enough for him to roll and switch their positions. He leapt back to put some distance between them and began to take off his cloths. Emerald made to lunge for him again but it was too late, he was naked. Lars made sure she was confused enough not to attack before turn around in an exaggeratedly slow circle. "See? No gem." He even went so far as to shake his hair around to show that it wasn't hidden.
Emerald watched his display silently, thankfully, not inappropriately fascinated which made it easier to be so vulnerable. But one can only expect to be naked in front of a mortal enemy for so long without it becoming awkward. Lars picked up his discarded jeans and began to pull the legs from their inside-out position before they were rudely torn from his grip. "Hey! Wha-" but his words died fast and every bit of blood available in his body went immediately to his face as Emerald grabbed his shoulders and forcibly spun him around again and again, checking every inch of his body at least three times over before grabbing his head. "Owch!" Her hands didn't faze through his hair like his or Stevens, which was a surprise, but she did yank awful hard and he had to finally push her away. "Ok, peep shows over; let me get dressed." Emerald allowed him to do so this time but she still watched him with a calculating look that could now be described as 'uncomfortable.' "Are you convinced yet? I'm not a gem, I'm a human, I didn't know about the law thing but thanks for the tip. Yes, Fluorite, Rhodonite, Padparadscha, and the Rutie twins are my friend's and of course I care about them. You would understand if anyone actually liked you." Emerald didn't respond to the barb and even though he was now fully dressed, the calculating look remained which made him feel like he was still naked. "Well aren't you going to say anything?"
Emerald appeared to still be contemplating, cradling her chin and tapping it to a rhythm only privy to her. Lars decided that he didn't have enough time for to continue loading. She didn't have any weapons or backup so as far as he was concerned he could continue his search. He stomped out the smoldering fire and ripped off a strip of his tragically obliterated cape. He tied the strip on a tree branch to indicate the direction he was going and began to move on when he finally heard a reply. "You escorted me through the scanner at the jubilee so they wouldn't be suspicious when you didn't set them off at all. Emeralds give off more energy then average elites; you knew my signature would remove any doubt that you belonged there."
Actually he didn't know there were scanners at the entrance at all. He just figured as long as he had a 'date' he could get in without being harassed or be asked for an invitation. She had been with a huge group at the time and he had learned back on Earth that you can sneak into a movie for free if you pretend you're with the large group with only one person handing in the tickets. He hadn't known that they were her entourage and that he had picked someone of that high a rank to offer his arm to. After knowing Emerald for awhile now, he sometimes catches himself wondering why she let him do it in the first place.
"Nah, I just saw the most beautiful gem there and figured I might be lucky enough to get one dance in before we had to infiltrate the record center for fake ID's." He through in a wink over his shoulder and tried to walk away as casually as possible. Seeing her face would be priceless but it would ruin the effect he was going for. He did manage to hear her choke though.
Lars made his way in a random direction, Emerald could follow him or not (and there was a 98% chance that she will once she came up with a response) he still didn't know where any high ground was. Although it had been awhile since he last climbed a tree to check. So he found one with thick enough branches to support his weight and hung what remained of his cape on a bush for safekeeping. The cape was burned and ripped to sheds but it made good trail markers to see if he was going in circles or for any of his friends to find him.
An advantage of being kind-of-dead was that he no longer experienced the muscle burn of over exertion so he could climb easily and often. Unfortunately, he could still break a bone so he wasn't too thrilled at the idea of standing precariously at the top of the tallest branch. He just had to keep reminding himself that he was the 'new' Lars so he swallowed his fear and chanted his new mantra for strength: "Be like Steven."
He balanced himself on the highest branches the tree had to offer and stood up as straight as he dared. Ok, still looked like an endless field of grass. No smoke. Come one guys, send up a signal already! Should he stay and rely on a signal fire? Or should he try to find them because they might be unable to look for him? He didn't know any of Emeralds crew or how many there were. Would they be smart enough to capture his crew without Emerald there to give the ok? "Wait." Lars climbed back down. If Emerald can sense the Sun Incinerators engines from half way across the galaxy, he smiled as he came to rest back on the ground, then she can find them a few miles away on an alien planet.
Lars dusted off his scorched cape and tossed it over his shoulder in perfect 'badass' fashion. Being consistent with his new act even when no one was around made it easier to believe it himself. He was the cool under pressure 'Lars of the Stars' and he was going to charm himself a way back to his crew. Heck, he had already started laying the groundwork with his earlier flirt before he even came up with this new plan! Now he just had to find Emerald again and get her to fall for his charms. Funny, he thought she would be here by now demanding his surrender or something. Lars backtracked to the clearing he had last seen her. She hadn't made to follow him like he had predicted, instead, she was currently sketching what looked like a star map and a math formula longer then his entire body. "Aren't you coming?" She turned sharply, off kilter by the sudden remark, "Hah! Why would I follow an off color-pet-alien-thing? You are my prisoner and will be shatter…destroyed when I find my…crew and return to home world. And I can only find home world once I have determined my exact coordinates." She tossed her stick in the air and caught it without even looking before going back to her dirt-math.
Oh brother, not only was he stuck with an enemy but a nerd enemy… a nerdemy? Lars shook his head, mocking nicknames were not the way to get her to lead him back to his crew. "And you're going to accomplish that by letting me wonder off while you draw in the dirt?" She pointed her finder in indignation and he actually had the decency to wince, 'smooth Laremie, real smooth.'
"Do not question me, I am the top of home worlds most elite and I did not get there by being anything less then the most competent in my position. You and your crew are minor hiccups which will soon be a distant memory. One not even worth remembering!"
Lars held up his hands "Your 100% right. I'm your prisoner and you are in charge. I'll follow you to your ship and then you can capture my teammates. I'll even order them not to put up a fight." Emerald didn't seem to buy that little speech for an instant. "What are you scheming?"
"Nothing, nothing I just decided that there was no point in fighting you. We're both lost and you're the only on who can find the Sun Incinerator. You can recognize the engines signature from across the cosmos right? So it's either captured by you or die out here. And trust me, death is not something I want to experience again. Getting blown up hurts but it's at least quick, wasting away out here would be a boring way to go and that's assuming nothings out there that can eat me. So yah, I'm all yours beautiful." He even finished by getting down on one knee and holding his hands out ready to be cuffed.
Emerald didn't choke this time, only looked at him with utter distain before going back to her makeshift map. Lars remained in his submissive position as a sort of apology for his earlier remark (though he was only apologetic out of necessity).
Emerald seemed to be finished with her map and took one more glance at Lars before allowing her gem to flash. The light leaving an indelible image in her minds eye for reference. She walked past him. "Keep up and don't try anything funny. And if you ever call me that again I'll sh…rip out your meat bits." Lars dusted off his knees and followed behind, "whatever you say Emy."
"Commander Emerald."
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Lars had decided not long after 'landing' that he would ask as many questions as humanly possible. Eventually, he hoped to refine his skills so that he will never half to "play with a half deck" as his father says. Which… up until recently has been his only way to play. Emerald, at the moment, was his only test.
"So you can sense the engines right? Cause' I've been up a million trees so far and all I see is nothing. Not that I'm doubting your abilities as an elite but it would be nice to confirm."
Emerald had summoned a weapon from her gem, a sickle, and was cutting them a more direct route. "I built that ship from the ground up, approved every bolt used in every joint. I know it as intimately as my own form, I can sense where it is and no, I will not tell you which direction. I'm not that stupid."
"Now why would I run? I'm a willing prisoner and I would miss this stimulating conversation of me asking a question and you ignoring it."
"You have not asked me any questions you have only asked this 'Emy' person."
"What, don't you like your new nick name? Giving someone a nickname is a sign of respect back on my planet and 'Emy' is a particularly adorable choice on my part."
"What if I started calling you 'Pink Pet,' lower then even the lowest ranking pearl."
"Well I would be honored considering you have bestowed a nick name onto me. I shall treasure it like you should treasure your 'Emy.' I am your Pink Pet and your Pink Pet only." Lars wiggled his eyebrows in emphasis but the sexual gesture was lost on a species that didn't reproduce that way.
"I despise you."
"Whatever you say Emy."
"GRAHH!"
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Perhaps he had overdone it. Emerald had been unusually quiet for, what was probably, several hours now. Sometimes she would stop and stare at a point in metaphorical space, unresponsive to any of his questions or genuine concern for her well-being. But then she would snap out of it and play it off like she was only lost in thought for a moment and make a wise crack about him not having any thoughts at all so how could he understand. Still…
The two suns had final decided to set, Lars had given up trying to judge time by this point. Emerald had done more of her fancy math tricks to calculate and convert time here into a more standard gem-based space time but that was just as confusing and unhelpful as you'd expect. It didn't really matter anyway, it was dark and dark meant impossible to see. He had asked Emerald if she could make a spot light with her gem so they could keep going but, apparently, that would degrade the map she had imprinted on her eye earlier. He also silently hoped that a rest would help her random zone-out sessions.
Thankfully being stuck on a desert island with Steven and Sadie had taught him a lot about camping with no supplies. Emerald was curled up by the fire he made, neither of them really got cold but it was a good source of light and an excuse to show how much smarter he was then her. She had pretended that making camp was beneath her station and refused to help but Lars had still caught her watching him out of the corner of her eye. Don't get him wrong, she knew more about gem tech, math, and building space ships then he would ever dream of knowing but he at least had this over her. Speaking of ships.
"How much longer do you think it'll until we find the ship? Also, you said you made the Sun Incinerator? That is amazing! I made my own short range fighter, you saw, you blew it up. But it's nothing compared to that masterpiece. Is the shape of the hull what makes it so fast? Fluorite said the engines are not much different then other ships of its size so it can't be that. Or is it-"
Emerald had zoned out again, gazing at the fire but the mention of her ship seemed to finally get a reaction.
Complete and utter random rage.
"Silence!" Emerald grabbed him by the collar, "You are honestly going to sit there and talk about my 'best friend' which you stole as if we are colleges of equal status and not mortal enemies?! Do you know what I will have to face back home because of you? Do you know how much trouble you and the other off colors have caused? Do you know what it's like right now? I literally do not have time for this wild anite chase! The diamonds have been so wrapped up in their own affairs that all the burden of leadership has been cast upon us! I was made to make sure that all ships were ready when the Diamonds needed them. I was made to organize. I was not made to be grudge, jury, and executioner of my fellow gems! I was not made to go dozens of sectors from home to track down a few rouges! I have had to disobey direct orders, channel resources and time we don't have, and abandon my post just to get here! We are not companions so stop acting like we are!" She shoved him as hard as she could which only managed to take out one of the supports for their leaf roof, smacking the back of his head as he broke through it's support. He was a good three feet away but she was now trapped under the collapsed branches. A position she apparently didn't mind very much since she didn't bother to move out from under it.
Lars rubbed his head and found blood on his fingers. She had actually attacked him over polite conversation? What the hell! Yah he stole her ship but isn't one ship worth the happiness of good people who have lived in fear their entire lives?! He had thought about getting it back to her after they had made it to Earth by towing it by "That" and leaving it somewhere she could find it but hey! She had blown up both ships and Stevonie and now thrown him against a tree so you know what? Forget this nicy-nice 'think like Steven' nonsense. Forget about actually caring about what might be wrong with her and let 'Commander Emerald' have a piece of his actual mind for once!
Lars gathered every terrible thought he had ever had about Emerald and tried to form it into a rant that would really tare her a new one. But by the time he walked back over and ripped what was left of the roof off her head-
It only took one look at barely contained tear filled eyes to tare down every shred of anger he had constructed. The mighty gem now made small without so much as a word from him and all at once he was reminded of himself after being trapped on that island so long ago.
Well fuck.
Carefully, he reclaimed his seat next to Emerald and used the silence to construct a new monologue. "I know what it's like to be both afraid and too proud to admit it. I was always afraid, still am, but I found a better way to cope with it. A good friend of mine, well two good friends, once told me to step back and… appreciate wherever you are. Yah, we're in a desperate situation and we're both terrified that we'll never get out of it and this causes us to fester in a future that might not happen, which makes us more scared." Lars made to put a hand on her shoulder but then thought better of it. "We're here, we're relatively unharmed, thanks for the bump by the way." That at least got the corner of her mouth to twitch for a millisecond before it corrected itself. "Glad to know I'm at least good for entertainment. And making roofs, which you knock down. See there's another thing! I make roofs and you knock them down by tossing me through them. We make a good team that way. " That actually got a snot and nose wrinkle. "So let's just take a small break from being enemies and worry only about the next step. Right now, that's sleep. I know gems don't need it but it's a good way to pass the time. Tomorrow we wake up and I'll continue to be hilarious and you continue to be the amazing leader/navigator you are." Lars made an exaggerated yawn and stretch before lying down to prevent any awkward silence that might have followed. "Well good night Emy. See you tomorrow."
Lars closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. The back of his head still ached but it seems like it has at least clotted by now. He didn't fully trust Emerald enough to loose consciousness next to her but if this was going to work then he had to at least act-
Emerald shifted positions, her warmth was gone for a moment, then he felt hair tickle the top of his head. She was… laying down next to him? He was tempted to look but that would give away that he was awake… Maybe if she really was resting, it would be ok for him to get some sleep too?
The next thing he knew it was morning. And he couldn't help but think how odd it was that he hadn't woken up once the entire night.
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Last night
Emerald lay awake letting the ghosts of firelight embers dance in the back of her eyelids as she blinked. The off color captain's breaths were steady and calm, even in the presence of an enemy. She didn't know whether to be insulted that he didn't consider her a threat or impressed by his gall. Were all 'humans' like this? She had never really met…
The memories ripped through her mind swifter and more devastating then any blade. An unprecedented war, chaos, blind youthful ambition,
…a song…
She gripped her head in agony, the only thought keeping her grounded was "don't wake Lars, DoN't wAke LarS."
She needed off this organic world. She hated organic life; it was too much like-
She looked at the map she had drawn in her gem. She didn't need it to navigate. She just wanted home.
She was so alone, she reached up carefully and gripped the ends of her sleeping companions hair. It was sssso niccce. He didn't feel it, he didn't stir, which gave her courage to say something that had never been spoken allowed.
"I…I'm…always afraid too…ever since… since the war I… I'm broken no… I try so hard so no one knows but…Help me." She covered her mouth against the sobs, feelings of complete worthlessness crashed over her in waves. If anyone found out, if anyone knew how many times she Flinted up on a daily basis.
Paranoia drove her every action. She quadruple checked her work before signing off on it but there was always fear that it would return in error. She limited contact with other gems because what if they caught her doing… what Lars had seen her doing?
She gripped his hair tighter. He didn't… seem to care all that much. But he was her_no_wait A! a pink pet who's opinion didn't matter at all.
The last log broke in the fire; darkness swallowed the last of the flames. She was exhausted by the effort of weathering yet another, although far less severe, episode. She rolled on her back, thinking of getting more logs for the fire. But the ground was comfortable and Lars's hair was soft, and the sky was full of stars owned by her dear home.
"Let yourself just be wherever you are huh?"
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Lars made a point of finding interesting things as they walked; a bug with shiny wings here, a bolder shaped like a butt there. Emerald seemed to be doing much better today; she was actually kind of playing along!
"Non-gem life forms can be comically complex to the point that you wonder how they function at all let allow thrive. Gems spend their formative years absorbing all the energy they will ever need thought their entire lives where as organic or carbon based life forms need to rely on a constant cyclical network of external energy to replenish themselves. If one thing goes wrong then everything collapses; take this life form for instance." Emerald stopped to indicate an insect on a nearby leaf. It was long, thin, bumpy, with several eyes along it's back. "This creature is wasting about 36% of its energy and overall neural comprehension on excessive ocular stimulation. It needs to consume more energy over it's lifetime to compensate for this needless loss and this energy must come from constant external sources of sunlight and-" she shuddered in horror "- consuming other organisms."
Lars came up to examine the insect more closely "Yah but you gems need external whatever to live to, you guys just eat everything you're every going to eat all at once and permanently suck the life out of the planet in the process. Things like me and this little guy-" Lars pointed at the creature which startled it. The insect made an abrupt 'snap!' sound which launched it several feet into the air. Lars jumped back in alarm with an undignified yelp before correcting himself. Emerald still mocked him for his fright with a finger pointed in his direction and a "ha!" But Lars paid no mind and cleared his throat. "Like I was saying, me and jumpy there eat things more slowly which lets the plants and stuff grow back. We can live on the same planet for our entire lives while you have to keep finding new ones."
"You make it sound like we have no self control." Emerald looked up through a break in the trees in thought. "There are five possible worlds in the area we could have landed on. Although all of them support some sort of life, none of their volcanic activity and subsequent base material production was adequate enough for strong and useful gem types. They are considered 'reserves' for resources but only if the empire ever gets desperate. There are other worlds that were spared for the same purposes." Emerald leveled Lars with a considerate look. "It's true that it takes a lot of sacrifice in order to create ourselves but we have the right to exist. The creation of anything requires sacrifice, things don't just come into being, they have to be wanted. I was wanted so badly that My Diamond was willing to use up a planet they have had in reserve for millennia. They could have made hundreds of thousands of gems for the same amount energy it took to make me. But they wanted me so badly that they were willing to do it. I'm glad I'm here, I'm glad I get to live, I want other to have that chance too which is why I think invasion is so important. Your crew were… admittedly mistakes from the empires perspective but aren't you glad that they exist?"
Lars looked down in shame. "Of course I am… I don't know what it cost to get them here but they made me into a better person. I could never regret meeting them." He looked at Emerald, his eyes cast by the shroud of his hair. "I wish your empire could have seen their value so they wouldn't have to hide in the shadows for all those years. They stole your fleets fastest ship from an army of elite guards, the supposed 'best' your planet has to offer… What will you do with my friends when you capture them? If you love, at least gem life, so much what will you do with them?"
Emerald was silent for far too long and eventually had to turn away. Lars grabbed her hand to maker her look at him again. "Tell me!" Emerald turned her gazer to their entwined fingers; it made Lars angry that she would focus on such a thing at a time like this. "They will be put on trial. What happens to them is not up to me." Lars loosened his fingers but Emerald tightened hers. "You are an oddity not under our rule. You will be treated like an untrained animal to be given to someone who could break you or… be destroyed." Lars had been trying to put some distance between them by Emerald only pulled him closer, her cheeks gaining a darker shade of green. "I…I could take you, train you, you could stay-" Lars pushed her away, tears starting to form in his eyes.
"Do you think that's something I want? To…to watch my friends die and be reduced to your pet!? You're a commander, would you be willing to watch everyone on your ship, who are just as lost and alone as my friends are now, die?" Lars waited for a response to indicate some form of common ground but when all she did was shift her eyes to avoid his and bite her lip in conflict, he realized the truth. "I was kidding you know, when I called you heartless, turns out I was right huh?" Emeralds eye snapped back to his. Hurt."…It's late, lets make camp here." Whatever she had to say wasn't worth hearing and luckily for him she seemed just as willing to drop any form of conversation. So he gathered firewood, laid down large leaves for beds, making a point of make two separate beds far away from each other, and immediately laid down for sleep.
The sooner they find the ship, the sooner he could betray her and escape. She could rot here with all the crew she didn't care about and yet somehow manage to die alone.
He woke up with Emerald gone and a message carved in the dirt next to him.
"Follow the sun on the left as it sets for two more cut-sectors."
He tried for the rest of the day to pretend that he didn't care where she was.
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"What if the captains Dead!?" Rhodonite screamed for the millionth time while the twins tried to keep their simmering hated buried under layers and layers of kind supportiveness.
"The captains not dead." Twin Black-Red assured while tightening a stubborn bolt which probably had a few threads scratched off. "The captain can't die because he's already dead. I'm sure he's doing his best to find us." Red-Black added helpfully.
"And..once the engines…are repaired…we can…look for…him." Fluorite added before ducking back down below deck.
"But how long will that take?! We've been poofed for the universe knows how long and we're trying to mash a third generation fighter with a custom build! Do you know how to do that because I don't know how to do that."
"We are trying but it's a bit hard to concentrate with-" There was a sound in the bushes. Something was headed their way. The Off Colors had a split second of panic before they all ducked behind the nearest object.
All except for Padparadscha who stood by the control panel a second too long and had to be grabbed by Rhodonite. But she was too late, Lars had seen.
"Padparadscha! Rhodonite! Your ok!"
"Captain?"
They all came out from their hiding places and greeted each other with a group hug, which involved Fluorite picking everyone up in their arms at once and Padparadscha slightly off, but still appreciated, joyful shout and cheek kiss. "We are so glad to see you!" Black-Red reiterated; "What happened after you hit the emergency shield?" Red-Black asked.
"It saved all of us from shattering but we thought you were dead when you got ejected." Rhodonite wondered while still checking Lars for any damage.
"Hahaha, guys I'm fine! I got sucked out a hole, landed in carnivorous moss, went on a camping trip with Emyyyy…Emerald, and now I'm here! Did you guys run into any of Emeralds crew?"
"No…there…were no crew…on the-"
"Wait, wait, wait, back up. You were with Commander Emerald this entire time?" Black-Red asked incredulously.
"Did she follow you?!" Rhodonite panicked and quickly scanned the area for any sign of their primary antagonist.
"No." He admitted while scratching the back of his head, it still kind of hurt. "No we… were tr- I was her prisoner so she would get me back to the ship but then we…I…"
"The captain is about to be embarrassed about probing questions about Emerald…Who he has developed a crush on!" Padparadscha 'predicted,' eternally pleased that she had a vision at all and not at all concerned about the implications which followed.
Everyone froze in the prevailing awkwardness. Lars had nothing to say for himself. Padparadscha's predictions may be late but they were never wrong. Sometimes they even had information they missed the first time… like now.
"Captain?..."
"It doesn't matter! Why are we even talking about this?! Emy-EMERALD's crew is out their waiting to-"
"Emeralds ship…was…empty…there are no…crew…here…besides…us." Lars was both confused and grateful Fluorite was allowing the change in topic.
"What? She came all this way to capture us without backup?" That doesn't make any sense, why would you come alone to a fight? She obviously didn't have anyone on stand-by or they would have come and gotten her the second she crashed. Why would she risk?...
"Do you know what I will have to face back home because of you?... I have had to disobey direct orders, channel resources and time we don't have, and abandon my post just to get here!"
"You're a commander, would you be willing to watch everyone on your ship, who are just as lost and alone as my friends are now, die?" Lars waited for a response to indicate some form of common ground but all she did was shift her eye to avoid his and bite her lip in conflict.
Oh no…
"Twins, Fluorite! How soon can we get this thing flying?" Lars took off what remained of his shirt. "Well theirs still a lot of work to be done. We salvaged parts of Commander Emeralds ship but…"
God damn it…
"Alright, lets do the best we can and get off this hunk of rock!"
9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
Emerald sat in the steaming wreck of the Nebula Conqueror furiously recoding what was left of the control panel to send a strong enough signal to reach outpost 701-B… which was three galaxies away…She crumpled enough to cradle her face in her hands.
She was not going back, she was not asking for help. She didn't even want prisoners anymore she just wanted…
Sleep, sleeping was nice before… A flash of pink hair and the sound of snoring entered her mind unbidden. She was… so tired…
"Bingo Bongo…" Emeralds head snapped up, when did she get on the floor? Lars was there, sheepish and covered in splotches of oil from a fuel injector… "Come to steal more from me Off Color? My dignity, my pride, my best friend, and now the parts from my only way off this miserable rock?" Lars waived his hand in a dismissive gesture. "We only took enough metal to fix the holes you blew in us. I'm sure you and your crew will be able to fix it…" Emerald no longer had the energy, let him think what he wants. "Unless." Her head shot up, Lars was crouched in front of her, he was so close. "Unless you came alone because you didn't want to risk anyone else's life but your own." His eyes drooped and Emeralds gem released more energy then it should which caused the color in her face to darken. With a horrifying realization, Emerald knew that if Lars had been a gem, they would be fusing right now. "All life is valuable right?"
She was alone, had always been alone, why wasn't he a gem?! She needed to fuse now. To be someone else NOW. When Lars wrapped his arms around her then it was electricity, and fire, and he was warm in a way no gem ever could be. His head rested under her chin, his ear flat on her chest as he gave a thoughtful hum. "Looks like I was wrong again." He lifted his head to look into her eyes, "You do have a heart after all."
Everything in the universe was SCREAMING at her to do something but she had no clue what it would be. He was still so close, her body was on fire. Screaming…screaming… wait, someone was screaming.
"Captain hurry! We don't have much fuel!" The Sun Incinerator was airborne but only just. It pained her to see it so mangle. Her poor ship… Suddenly she was in Lar's arms, very much against her will. "We'll give you a 'lift' to the nearest neutral territory with a radio but after that we have a planet to get to."
"…Did you lift me up just to make that pun?"
"Yep, and now I'm putting you down because you are way heavier then you look."
The End