Disclaimer: You can tell i'm not Haruki Ichikawa, because A) Land of the Lustrous canon is never anywhere near this cliché, and 2) something along these lines really should have happened.

So that was it. There was something going on with Adamant-sensei and the Lunarians. It was about time Phos realized it, Cinnabar thought, but they didn't have any advice or thoughts to offer the other gem. They hadn't made up their mind about it their own self. With nothing left to say, they started to leave.

Phos hesitated, then called after them. "Actually, wait. Can i talk to you about something else?"

Cinnabar turned back to them with a deeply suspicious look. "What is it?"

Phos rubbed the back of their head and laughed a little, self-consciously. "Eh, it's kinda hard to say . . ."

"In that case, i don't want to hear it. I'm leaving." Cinnabar didn't trust half of what came out of Phos's mouth, and something about their manner right now was setting Cinnabar's nerves on edge.

Phos looked up again, eyes wide. "No! You can't! Hear me out!" They lunged forward.

Ahh, i knew it. Cinnabar leaped back. It was going to be the same old thing. "You don't even know what you're going to say!" they called over their shoulder as they took off along the line of the cliff.

As expected, Phos charged after them. "No! I do! Just give me a minute!"

"I don't want to! I don't trust you!" Cinnabar shouted back. "Everything you say is just pretty nonsense!"

"Maybe so! But you have to listen to me anyway!"

At least they realize it now, a corner of Cinnabar's mind thought. But then they made the fatal mistake of looking over their shoulder to call back a retort. As Cinnabar turned, their foot strayed a little too far to the left and slipped off the bedrock.

For a painful moment, everything was frozen. Cinnabar had just enough time suspended in air to chastise themself for making such a stupid mistake. Then they caught the edge of the cliff, feeling their hands crack against the granite as something smooth pressed against them from the other side. Cinnabar looked over their shoulder to see a net of soft gold alloy wrapping itself around their body.

"Idiot!" they shouted up at Phos. "What are you doing?!"

"It's alright!" Phos called in response. "Your mercury doesn't bother me!"

"What kind of nonsense . . ." Cinnabar grumbled, and tried to climb back up without relying on Phos's help. Phos tried equally hard to lift Cinnabar up on their own. Eventually they managed it.

"I did it!" Phos crowed. "I said i was going to save you next time, and i did!"

Cinnabar winced. Was that really how Phos thought of them? Instead of focusing on that, they frowned at the alloy morphing back into the shape of arms. Phos kept a stubborn grip on both of Cinnabar's hands. "Your arms really aren't being damaged at all, are they."

"Nope!" Phos replied cheerfully. "The metal doesn't seem to have a problem with it!" They paused. "Actually, it feels like the alloy is mixing with your mercury."

Cinnabar's eyes widened.

Phos backtracked hastily, almost releasing their grip on Cinnabar, but they caught themself in time and held fast. "It's not a bad thing! I think the alloy is keeping the mercury part away from the stone part of my body. I'm fine!"

Cinnabar gave a disbelieving shake of their head. "That's really dangerous, you know? You'll have to be really careful, both with yourself and others." They sighed. "Well? You've got me, so what is it you wanted to say?"

"Huh?" Phos started at the sudden change in subject.

Cinnabar raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you forgot already."

"No!" Phos exclaimed. "That's what i wanted to tell you. I'm not gonna forget about you."

Cinnabar blinked. "Hah?"

Phos took a deep breath. "I need to figure this out about Sensei and the Lunarians, but i want you to know that i'm not going to abandon finding you a new job while i think about it."

"I never asked you to–" Cinnabar started, but Phos talked over them.

"I want to, because i like you, and it's too sad to leave you alone in the dark."

Suddenly Cinnabar couldn't stand to look at Phos anymore. They turned their face down and away. "You keep saying stupid things like that."

"I can't help it, 'cause that's how i feel," Phos said. "It's okay if it's stupid, 'cause i mean it."

"That's not–" Cinnabar looked up. Phos had gotten really close. Too close. Close enough that even in the darkness Cinnabar could see where the powder had smudged away around their eyes and the corner of their mouth. Phos squeezed Cinnabar's hands.

Looking intently into Cinnabar's eyes, Phos enunciated, "I like you, Cinnabar." They drew back the space of a breath and smiled in the starlight. "It's not stupid to like you, no matter what you say."

"How can you say such embarrassing things without batting an eye?" Cinnabar demanded. They didn't care about how close the two of them were anymore.

This time it was Phos's turn to look away. "I can't help it. It's how i really feel, so . . ." They trailed off. So Phos was embarrassed by being told they were being embarrassing, but not by actually saying embarrassing things? How weird. Cinnabar was the type to get embarrassed just by hearing that sort of thing.

Phos recovered quickly. "The point is, i'm not gonna give up on you, so you don't need to worry."

"You – I wasn't going to!"

"And look!" Phos released one of Cinnabar's hands and waved their own to demonstrate their point. "The alloy likes your mercury, so you don't need to be scared of hurting me! Look!"

They let go of Cinnabar's other hand, but Cinnabar didn't have time to react before Phos threw both arms around them. A thin layer of gold-platinum rose up between them to shield Phos's torso.

What are you doing? Cinnabar wanted to say, but they couldn't get the words out. Besides, they knew what Phos was doing.

And they knew why.

Cinnabar closed their eyes. Physical contact felt so good after all this time.

Phos turned their face into Cinnabar's hair a little, their alloy skin spreading to match the movement. "Listen, you don't have to be alone anymore. I don't want you to be alone anymore. Okay?"

" . . . Yeah." Slowly, Cinnabar raised their arms and wrapped them around Phos's waist. The cool texture of metal followed Cinnabar's motion. They let themself think, just for the moment, how incredible it was that Phos had added a material to their body that Cinnabar couldn't damage.

"Thank you," Cinnabar whispered. They weren't sure if Phos heard them – they weren't sure if they wanted Phos to hear them – but Phos's metal arms tightened around them.

Finally Phos pulled back. "So you can't give up either, okay?"

"I . . . i guess i can hold on a while longer," Cinnabar replied.

Phos nodded firmly, and Cinnabar needed to get away from this conversation. "I have to finish my patrol," they said, stepping out from under Phos's arms. It was a convenient excuse, because it was true.

"Okay," Phos said, letting them go. "I'll be back. You can count on it."

"Okay. I'll see you."

Phos grinned. "See you!" They waved wildly as they ran down the slope back towards the school. Their hair sparkled in the moonlight.

"You're going to fall, idiot," Cinnabar muttered. Then they smiled.

It had been a long time since they let themself be so vulnerable in front of someone else. They'd need time to recover, but really, this sort of thing wasn't bad.

Their smile stayed on their face as they headed down to walk the beach.

A/N: Because the first English story in the archive HAS to be CinnaPhos. I made a friend who really loves geology watch this show, and i've been told that the really cute thing about this pair is that mercury won't damage gold or platinum. My course of action was obvious.