AN: Hello, dear readers! Sorry for the long delay. We have a new HR manager at my job and she's got my schedule all janked! Anyway, I posted a poll on my profile if you want to participate. It will affect how this story will proceed so choose wisely! Love all of you awesome readers!
To the guest reviewer who offered to totally be my Jasper, don't worry about the height issue! Don't let that stop you! If you are still interested in the cosplay, PM me and we can go from there.
Chapter 11: Go for It
After a quite enjoyable evening together, Jasper and Tiger-eye relaxed in a Gem equivalent of an ofuro made from a crystalline substance and filled to the brim with steamy water. Jasper couldn't take her eyes or hands off of her lovely partner. In her eyes every part of her partner was perfectly pleasing. However, there was one thing about Tiger-eye that Jasper was curious about.
"Honey, what's this mark right here?" Jasper inquired as she rested her large hand on her partner's right breast which had a dark, cross shaped mark. Tiger-eye laid her hand on top of Jasper's as she contemplated a response, while also wondering why Jasper hadn't mentioned it until now.
"Jasper, can I trust you to keep a secret?"
"Most definitely."
A now somber Tiger-eye straddled Jasper's lap and looked her partner directly in the eyes.
"This mark on my chest is on every member of the guild I belong to."
"A blacksmith's guild?"
"No. That's just my cover. I'm a member of the Dark Cross Guild." Jasper's eyes grew wide at that revelation.
"Dark Cross? They're real? I always thought they were just a myth made up to scare Gemlings to keep them in line."
"Oh, we're very real, and very covert. That's why you can't tell anybody about this, ok?"
"Don't worry, honey. You're secret's safe with me. I wouldn't dare do anything to jeopardize the Gem I love."
Tiger-eye paused, wondering if she had heard what Jasper said correctly as her partner peppered her chest with feather-light kisses.
"Jasper, did you say you love me?" The soldier paused in her affection to give her partner her full attention.
"Yes. Is that a problem?"
"No! It made me very happy to hear you say that. But I kind of have a stupid question."
"Your questions aren't stupid, honey. But what do you want to know?"
"How do you know that you love me?" Jasper's face bore a shocked expression before she burst into laughter.
"Ty, you are full of surprises! I never guessed you would ask me something like this." Jasper caressed her pretty partner's waist and thighs as she kissed her full on the lips. When she finally parted her lips from there she took a moment to study the uncertainty in her lover's eyes. "Listen, honey, I meant what I said. I do love you. I'm one hundred percent sure of that because I don't want anyone else for a partner."
Tiger-eye was deeply touched by Jasper's sweet words. She smiled and gently kissed Jasper's gem. This was the first time Tiger-eye had initiated a kiss, causing the love struck soldier to feel overjoyed.
"Jasper, do you remember the moment you realized how you felt about me?"
"Oh, yes, I remember it clearly. It was when I fought that horrible bitch that was beating on you."
"You…fought Master Jet?" Tiger-eye had assumed that Jasper had been the intruder in the Cloisters, but until now she hadn't been one hundred percent sure.
"Oh yes. There was no way I was going to let her hurt you anymore. I would have beaten her…if she hadn't cheated," Jasper grumbled with an angry scowl.
"That's no surprise. Dark Cross assassins are expected to use underhanded techniques in battle. What did she do?"
"She fused with a Black Pearl. I guess I was just too strong for that weak, cowardly bitch."
Tiger-eye stared at her partner in awe.
"You fought Onyx…and survived the encounter? Jasper…you're even more awesome that I thought!" The blacksmith hugged her lover tightly as her respect for Jasper went through the roof. "Thank you for what you did. If you hadn't done that I might have been shattered, all because Master Jet wanted to make an example of me for something so petty."
"You don't have to thank me, honey. I did it out of love. I don't want anyone or anything hurting you." Jasper hugged her partner even closer as Tiger-eye buried her face in the soldier's wild mane.
"Jasper, I…I…" Tiger-eye wanted to reciprocate Jasper's words of affection, but she honestly wasn't sure how she felt. Emotions could be very confusing for her. Before she could finish her thought they both heard a muffled noise coming from outside. It was a rhythmic, dull thudding. "I think someone's at your door, Jaspy."
Jasper gave her love a quick kiss before climbing out of the tub. She made herself decent before opening the door to reveal a familiar, and for the time being, not so friendly face.
"It's about time you answered the damn door!"
"Good morning to you, too, Andie. What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean? The lieutenant called us down to the courtyard to fall in. We're supposed to be assigned our posts today."
"Oh, shit, you're right!"
"Exactly, so let's go. It's not like you to be late. On top of that you forgot to stop by my place last night. What's going on with you?"
"I never said I would stop by. Anyway, I had to take care of something important."
"I…I thought I was important to you, Jas…" Jasper was a bit taken aback by Andesine's hurt tone.
"Look, Andie, there's something I need to tell you."
Before Jasper could continue her discussion with her friend, a now fully clothed Tiger-eye came up behind her partner and into Andesine's line of sight.
"What the hell is that skinny bitch still doing here? You actually let her spend the night?"
"Don't disrespect my partner, Andie."
"Your what?" Jasper ignored Andesine's outburst and turned to Tiger-eye. "You want to stay here and wait for me until I get back, honey?"
"I would, but I can't. I start at the weapons plant today."
"All right. We can meet up later on today if you want." Tiger-eye smiled brightly and nodded in agreement as Jasper secured her quarters. Andesine glared at the couple as they kissed each other goodbye and Jasper whispered something to Tiger-eye which made the blacksmith smile before she headed to the footbridge. Jasper brushed past an obviously upset Andesine and headed down to the courtyard.
"So, Jas, how long is this one gonna last? A few months? A year tops?" Jasper ignored Andesine's questions as they both stepped onto the tower elevator. "So you're just gonna ignore me? You're not going to answer my questions?"
Jasper leaned against the elevator wall, crossed her arms, and quietly can calmly made a statement.
"I don't have to answer any of your questions, Andie. It's none of your business what goes on between me and my partner."
"See that's what I don't get. I was under the impression that you and I were together, Jas."
"Obviously you got the wrong impression," Jasper coolly replied as the elevator doors opened and the pair stepped out of the elevator. "Listen, Andie, we've been friends for a while, and you knew what was going on with us from the start and that it could end at any time. I don't want to or even need to do the friends with benefits thing anymore. The truth is…I love Tiger-eye."
"What? How can you say you love that dumpy bitch?" Jasper grabbed Andesine by the collar, pulling her close as her temper flared.
"I'm only gonna say this once. If you call my partner out of her name again I'm going to make sure you regret it." She set Andesine back down and went to fall in before Lieutenant Spinel. The other soldier, who was obviously upset as well, followed suit. Once the pair lined up with the other soldiers, Andesine mouthed the words, "This isn't over," to Jasper, to which the taller Gem responded with a roll of the eyes. Jasper ignored her pissed off friend and looked for Carnelian. She spotted her afar off walking next to Tiger-eye out of the residential area and towards the weapons plant.
'Hold on. What's Carnelian doing with my Ty? Shouldn't she be with…? Oh no. That sneaky bitch actually pulled it off!'
Jasper watched the retreating pair like a hawk as the lieutenant assign each of the soldiers to their posts. In the meantime, Tiger-eye put a little distance between her and Carnelian as they headed to the weapons plant. Carnelian didn't allow Tiger-eye's stand-offish attitude deter her from striking up a conversation.
"So, Tiger-eye my dear, are you excited about getting the plant up and running?"
"Yup! I can't wait to get the fires burnin' and work some hot metal into the best swords, axes, and armor you ever did see!"
"Well, you are one of the best blacksmiths on Homeworld so that won't be a surprise."
"Daw…thanks for the compliment."
"You're also one of the most beautiful blacksmiths on Homeworld," Carnelian added as she draped a muscular arm over Tiger-eye's shoulder.
"All right, that's enough of that," the pretty Gem responded as she shrugged off Carnelian's advances. "What are you doing over here anyway? Shouldn't you be with the other soldiers?" Tiger-eye inquired as they met up with the ten other blacksmiths.
"Why would I be? I'm a blacksmith and metallurgist like you. I belong here."
"Huh? When did that happen?"
"Not long after we last saw each other at the weapons depot back West. Seeing you inspired me to study metallurgy and develop all kinds of practical weapons. The cadets coming up under me used them to practice until they learned how to summon their own unique weapon."
"Oh. Well, that's…great, Carnelian. Glad I could be an inspiration to you." Tiger-eye was quite skeptical about Carnelian's true motivation for becoming a blacksmith, but she didn't bother telling the flirtatious Gem. She just made sure to keep distance between them when possible.
The twelve blacksmiths spent to rest of the day being trained by the head foreperson. She showed them how to man the furnace, work the bellows, choose and change out the molds, and call for the gofers to swift hot metal to their workstations. There were twelve work stations set throughout the plant on a circular pattern. The tracks for the hot metal containers radiated out from the center where the huge furnace was located. The furnace and tracks were built directly into an enormous rotating platform to allow the swifting of hot materials from 360 degrees. It was a pretty sweet setup so Tiger-eye knew she was going to enjoy working there.
After several days of training all of the blacksmiths had gotten the hang of things. Now the time had come to introduce the new additions to Military Complex Section R-6. A batch of Gem-lings had emerged a few centuries prior in a Kindergarten on the surface. Now that the Dirty East had been established the young Gems could now move into the underground complex permanently.
Several of Commander Bloodstone's lieutenants escorted the youngsters to their new residency and help them find their place in the community. Eighteen of them were sent to be gofers in the weapons plant. Tiger-eye had the pleasure of training some of the feisty little bunch of red, yellow, and brown Gems. The friendly blacksmith greeted the young gofers while Carnelian trained the rest.
"Oh my goodness, this has to be the cutest bunch of gofers I ever did see!"
There was mostly a positive response from the group of trainees, except for one little red Gem whose expression defied the jovial mood.
"Hey, you there in the middle. What the hell is wrong with your face?" The eight other gofers turned towards the scowling Gem out of curiosity. The crimson little one didn't look too pleased that their focus was now on her. "What's your name, cutie?"
"It's Ruby. Stop calling me cute. I'm here to fuckin' work, not socialize," the diminutive Gem grumbled.
"You know what? I like your attitude, Ruby. You don't mess around. Because of that, you're going to be the leader of this group of gofers. Before the day is done this is gonna be the best group of gofers in the Dirty East. So, Team Ruby, make sure you pay close attention to your training so you can be a million times better than that bunch of losers over there." Tiger-eye nodded towards Carnelian and her group. Ruby smiled a little at her trainer's proposition. It had triggered the lively red one's competitive spirit.
"Team Ruby. I like the sound of that. Where do I start?"
"All right now! I like your attitude, Ruby! Now follow me and I'll show you how it's done right!"
As Carnelian took the serious, by-the-book approach to training the gofers, Tiger-eye made it seem like all fun and games. It wasn't long before Team Ruby was riding up and down the tracks on the rotating platform like they were in a go-cart race, giving each other high fives as they rolled past each other. Tiger-eye's unorthodox training style had her group of gofers getting the job done and having a blast doing it. Unfortunately the head foreperson wasn't too thrilled with Tiger-eye's technique and demanded that Team Ruby pipe down. However, the spirited bunch stood up for their trainer, pointing out that the other blacksmiths appreciated her methods and were producing more output than the others using Carnelian's gofers. After seeing that Team Ruby's observations were correct, the head foreperson conceded to a point.
"All right, I see your point. But cool it with the high fives. I don't want you getting distracted. Stick with something safer, like a thumbs-up." There was some rolling of the eye and groans all around, but the gofers agreed to follow the command. Tiger-eye was cool with it as well. It wasn't long before Tiger-eye was loving her life in the Dirty East. She was making friends, enjoying her freedom, and had found love. She was so happy about the latter that she wanted one friend in particular to partake in it as well. After her shift was complete she knocked on her neighbor's door three doors down, hoping she was at home. Tiger-eye was all smiles when Spinel opened her door.
"Hey, Tiger! It's good to see you. You're looking quite pleased with yourself. What's up?"
"Good to see you too, Spinel. You got time to talk?"
"Sure! Come on in."
Once the lieutenant invited the blacksmith inside Tiger-eye took a quick look around. Spinel's quarters were far from bare. It looked rather comfy with lots of fluffy cushions and soft, pink lighting. The scent of cigarette smoke was in the air, but it wasn't overpowering. There were also a few interesting sculptures up against the walls. Tiger-eye had heard rumors of Spinel's artistic talent from Ametrine, and her current observations confirmed it. Spinel offered the tall Gem a seat on a rather large, velvety cushion as she herself settled on an extra fluffy one with arm rests.
"So, Tiger, what brings such a lovely Gem to my humble abode?" Spinel inquired with a teasing tone.
"You so crazy. Hee hee! But seriously, I wanted to ask you something. Do you live here alone?"
"Well, yeah. That's pretty obvious. Why do you ask? You want to move in?"
"There you go talkin' that shit again," Tiger-eye chuckled. "I doubt Jasper would approve."
"Oh, I know she would raise some hell and try to kill my ass. I'm just teasin' ya. So what's on your mind?"
"I've been training some gofers at the plant and there's one that is the cutest little thing you ever could see! She's all fired up and a lot of fun, so I was thinking maybe you'd like to meet her and get to know her."
"Tiger, are you trying to hook me up with another Gem?"
"Well, yeah. It's only fair since you helped me get together with Jasper."
"Aww…you are just too sweet! I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to pass."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because, I'm not looking for a partner. I've been through that before, and for now I'm just content with playing with a friend every now and then."
"But…don't you ever get lonely?"
"Nah. I'm good. If I get the urge to mess around I have a couple reliable friends I can count on. Besides, I'm not into short Gems. My previous partner was a lot taller than me, and all my play friends are taller than me. Thanks for looking out though."
"Oh…ok. I guess it's pointless to continue this conversation," Tiger-eye giggled. "It's too bad. I think you two would have been cute together. Anyway, I better go. Jaspy's supposed to be stopping by."
"All righty then. You better get goin'. Don't let me stop you from getting' smashed."
Tiger-eye bid her friend farewell while blushing at Spinel's bluntness. As she headed to her own quarters she saw her partner waiting outside of her door. Tiger-eye was a bit wary of Jasper's serious expression.
"Hi, Jasper."
"Hey. What were you doing at Spinel's?"
"Oh, we were just talking."
"About what?"
"I was telling Spinel about a cute Gem I think she should meet, but she said she's not looking for anything serious right now. She's playing the field…kind of like you were back West."
"I wasn't… Never mind. Let's just go inside."
Once the couple had their privacy Jasper didn't waste any time pulling her partner into her arms for a long awaited kiss.
"I missed you, honey."
"I missed you, too, Jaspy."
Tiger-eye squealed as Jasper scooped her up and carried her bridal style further into the blacksmith's quarters. The soldier gently laid her lover down on one of her cream colored cushions then settled on top of her. Tiger-eye smiled at the feeling of Jasper's mass pushing her down into the warm fluffiness.
"I've been thinking about you all day. Because of that I'm a bit upset with you."
"Why?"
"It's hard for me to concentrate while I'm on my post…and it's your fault. If you weren't so beautiful, sweet, and sexy I wouldn't have that problem." Jasper's serious expression had now morphed into a smile, letting Tiger-eye realize her partner was teasing her. The soldier's passionate kisses cleared things up even more. She had waited all day to ravish her lover and she wasn't holding back. Tiger-eye shuddered with desire as Jasper sucked and nibbled on her earlobe. "Ty…I love you." Tiger-eye's response was to turn her head to lightly kiss her partner on the lips. In spite of the affectionate gesture, Jasper looked a bit disappointed. "Why don't you ever say you love me?"
The blacksmith's eyes grew wide with surprise at her lover's question. As she pondered on an appropriate answer, Jasper rolled over on her side and gazed at her seemingly confused partner.
"Jasper, I…I'm not used to thinking about my feelings and what they mean. When I was at the Cloisters all day and every day it was driven into me to suppress my emotions. I'm still trying hard to figure out what's going on inside of me."
"I see. Could you at least try to tell me how you feel about me? Maybe I could help you figure things out."
"Ummm…ok. I'll try my best." Tiger-eye rolled onto her side to face Jasper. As she looked into those golden eyes she had difficulty gathering her thoughts. In her mind flashed memories of moments in the past when she felt a connection with Jasper and the brief yet tender moments they shared that always lingered with her. As Tiger-eye reminisced over those moments and the gaps of time in between, she surprised herself and her partner as she expressed those memories with a song.
If I could pick a single moment
To tell you how I fell right into the blue
I would tell the time my heart felt
And I would probably say that it was a quarter to two
The time was nice, but it was far spent
You sent me flying, now we both agree
That time became the enemy of moments
I'm holding on to the next one
And if the suns should go away from here
It don't matter, cause with you I shine
And if the clouds keep you from coming near
It don't matter, you're already mine
And that's all that matters, that matters, that matters
It wouldn't matter, cause baby you're mine
And that's all that matters, that matters, that matters
No one can take away what's yours and mine
If there's a name for our type of story
I call it the days of our lives, the age of a Gem and her guide
So built to last beyond glamour and glory
So easy to do, so easy to be connected inside
I get to put your name upon my heart
It's kind of cool to give your all or nothing to
Someone who make you love in these moments
Keep rolling on to the next one
And if the suns should go away from here
It don't matter, cause with you I shine
And if the clouds keep you from coming near
It don't matter, you're already mine
And that's all that matters, that matters, that matters
It wouldn't matter, cause baby you're mine
And that's all that matters, that matters, that matters
No one can take away what's yours and mine
Who makes love like this anymore
Instant, enduring, your eyes so alluring, my love
Won't let you go
Holds us together through stormier weather
It's gold, and so
If the suns should go away from here
It don't matter, cause with you I shine
And if the clouds keep you from coming near
It don't matter, you're already mine
And that's all that matters, that matters, that matters
It wouldn't matter, cause baby you're mine
And that's all that matters, that matters, that matters
No one can take away what's yours and mine
And now we sit and wonder where life went
From all the moments I missed, I'm glad that I didn't miss you
By the time Tiger-eye had finished singing the partners were embracing each other as they both quietly contemplated the meaning of the song that poured from the normally shy Gem's core.
"Jasper…I wasn't expecting that to come out of me, but I think I know what it means."
"What's that, honey?"
"I love you. I'm just sorry that it took me so long to figure it out."
"It's ok, Ty. I'm just happy to finally hear you say it…and mean it. And getting another chance to hear you sing is a bonus."
The happy pair of partners spent the rest of the day making even more happy, loving memories to add to their list of shared moments.
Next Chapter: Scoop
AN: To listen to "All That Matters" by Estelle with the original lyrics go to this link. watch?v=S90hiLhMBrA "All That Matters" is the property of Estelle Swaray (aka Garnet). I altered some of the lyrics to fit the story of course. On to the next chapter, dear readers!
