It was a particularly busy night at Morgan's club, and gems made their ways in and out of the club at a steady pace. The stars were out in full, and the night was going strong in the inner city. Gems bustled and chatted throughout the lounge or danced among one another in the dimly lit half of the club that was filled with the sounds of thumping techno music. Yes, the air was alive with the buzz of anecdotes and laughter, but even so... there hung a heavy air near the bar. A single azure gem was hunched over towards the end of the counter, out of the way of most other customers. Nobody was sitting near her, nor was anyone foolish enough to wander close to her, even in passing.
"Gimme another, Morg," a gruff yet feminine voice growled out from behind the counter. It was Blue, who seemed to have been drinking heavily throughout the night. Sliding the Diamond another glass of some kind of alcoholic beverage, Morganite grinned and turned to his next customer. Unfortunately, he didn't have a ton of time for talk tonight. Even if he did, Blue didn't seem to be in the mood for much talking herself. He knew better than to bother her when she was like this.
She looked grim, yet held a dark grin on her face. Eyes narrowed, she stared at nothing, the world around her seeming to move more sluggishly than normal. The drink wasn't her usual. No, this was something stronger, and from the looks of it she had downed quite a few. She was quiet, and seemed distant. Wrapping her hand around her drink slowly, it seemed as though she were going to bust the glass. One would even say she looked angry. However, that wasn't the case.
–
Run, run, don't stop, don't look back, don't trip.
Panting heavily, a small-set, dusty-brown gem skidded around the corner of a building. He very nearly lost his footing, his feet skidding out from under him for an instant. It was the Axinite from years ago that Hema caught. Quickly recovering, he sprinted down the street, bumping into a few passerby.
There were heavy footsteps following behind him.
Looking around, the small gem desperately searched for a place he could hide in that would be hard to be spotted. Somewhere crowded, somewhere that thing wouldn't think to look. He shot off down the road again, shoving gems of all shapes and sizes out of his path. Skidding around another corner, the fleeing gem spotted the brightly colored sign of Morganite's bar. From the looks of it, that place was the busiest one on this street!
Perfect!
The gem scurried over to the building, pushing a few people out of the way, slipping right past the bouncer that stood near the door. She frowned and sharply looked over, lifting a hand as if to stop the small gem. But, a short moment later, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms again. Ah well, she'd take care of that one if he started causing trouble. Axinite looked over his shoulder at the massive bouncer, narrowing his eyes.
Good, she wasn't following him. He didn't have time for security.
Hiding in a corner, the short gem pressed himself up against the wall, partially hiding behind a small partition in the wall. He peered around the corner, looking out the windows of the bar.
–
The smaller gem's sudden entry had not gone unnoticed. A few gems peered over to stare, one of them being the owner himself. From behind the counter, Morganite grinned and stepped back to get a better look at the gem.
"Hey!" he called out in an amused tone. "You alright there?"
Blue was the only one nearby who didn't turn her head to look at the gem. She stayed perfectly still, lifting up her glass to take a sip. She wasn't particularly interested in whatever was going on.
–
Chest heaving, the smaller gem shot Morgan a dirty look, holding his index finger up to his lip.
"SHH. He's gonna hear you," he hissed quietly, going back to looking out the windows.
The footsteps were getting closer.
The dusty brown gem grimaced and pressed himself further against the wall, holding his breath.
Within view of the bar, a certain service gem's feet came into view. They weren't terribly big at the moment, but it was enough to make a few gems get out of his way with unsettled murmurs. Suddenly stopping, the gem turned toward the bar.
Axinite gasped softly, but bit his tongue immediately afterward.
–
Morganite grinned, glancing out the window. He grabbed a hold of the cup he'd been reaching for before and chuckled too quietly to hear. Great, another troublemaker. He'd have to keep his eye on this one. As long as he stayed out of serious trouble here, he didn't really care if he stayed. If that was who he thought it was outside, the dusty brown gem would be taken care of soon anyways. Turning away to pour a glass for another gem, he swirled a colorful drink in the bottle and hummed to himself.
–
After a long, tense moment, the service gem outside the club turned away and continued down the street, his footsteps fading down the path.
Heaving a huge sigh, the small gem looked around and frowned grumpily. He almost seemed to sneer.
Stepping away from the wall, the dusty White District gem walked over to the bar and managed to hop up into a chair. He was looking around suspiciously, as if his pursuer would show up at any second. Despite being so on-edge, he didn't even seem to notice that the Blue District's leader was sitting right at the bar. Looking at the pink-haired warrior behind the counter, Axi huffed.
"I assume you're the owner of this place, huh? 'Morganite', was it?" he said in a nasally, almost bratty tone.
–
The pink haired gem twirled on his heel to face the newcomer, holding out his palms with a warm smile.
"That would be me, yes! Welcome." He raised a brow, a bit more of a devious look on his face now. "I trust you're going to stay out of trouble here, hm? You wouldn't want to make the mistake of breaking any rules here, just a fair piece of advice!" A strand of hair fell between his eyes, and without really changing expression he slowly parted it away again. "Now... care for a drink?~"
–
The shorter gem frowned and narrowed his eyes at the faintly masked threat. At least, he was pretty sure it was a threat.
"I won't make trouble so long as he doesn't follow me in here." Glancing at the window again, the gem grit his sharp teeth. "Lousy pebble walking around like he's so great," he muttered, just loud enough for those at the bar to hear.
–
Morganite frowned and turned away. Alright fine, no drinks for you. He walked off, starting to serve a few other customers. But, he wasn't the only one that heard the smaller gem's snide remark. The blue gem that was hunched over the bar felt her grin grow wider, and she slowly looked towards the gem beside her without moving her head at all.
"What was that, now?"
–
The gem blinked in confusion as he stared at the window. Did someone just speak to him?
Turning his head, the dusty brown gem gasped with a start, his eyes widening.
"B-blue Diamond!" Of all the lousy luck! "I-I uh. Uhhh. Gooood evening?" he said with an awkward, wide grin.
–
She never turned her head to face him. No, she just lifted her drink up again and took a sip, placing it down on the table with a loud clack. Morganite looked over his shoulder for a brief moment, but quickly turned his head and walked to the other side of the counter. Maybe someone over there needed another drink. Blue's eerie, dark tone drifted on the air once more as she glared sidelong at the smaller gem.
"Who are you runnin' from, clod?"
–
The smaller gem fidgeted nervously, his eyes darting around the room. Well, Morganite was gone, great. No help from him. Grinning so widely that his cheeks hurt, the dusty brown gem gave a forced laugh through his teeth.
"Oooh, pff. Nobodyyyy." He shrugged and twirled his hand at the wrist as he made an amusing, but not too convincing face. "Haha, nobody at all. Who's running? I'm not running! Nope! I'mmm just. You know. I like the music here. Yup," he said quickly, eyes wide and glancing around anxiously.
–
Blue slowly twisted the drink in her hands, running her fingers alongside the rim of her glass. Her lips were curled into a twisted, closed smile. There was an almost primal look in her eyes.
"You lying to a Diamond, kid? You suuuuure have a lot of nerve." She propped her foot up onto the bar of her chair.
–
The gem glanced away for a moment, small beads of sweat starting to form on his brow. Ohh, he didn't like how she was acting. He'd only seen Blue Diamond a handful of times, but it was enough to know that this wasn't normal. Keeping his smile, the smaller gem scooted back in his chair just slightly.
"Alright alright you caught me, my buddy and I are playing a little game. I didn't want him finding me so I hid in here. He thinks he's just the beeeeest at finding me so I wanted to actually beat him for once." This time, the gem's tone was far less nervous, more casual. He propped one elbow up on the bar, as if relaxed. His grin softened into a confident, though vaguely skeevy smirk.
–
Blue picked up the drink and downed the rest of it. Looking into the empty glass, she idly wondered when Morgan would bring her the next one.
"I see. Is that so?..." Placing the glass on the countertop, the azure gem sat up slightly in her seat. Morgan quickly stopped by and nabbed the cup, not making any sort of eye contact with the diamond before once more walking off.
Creak.
Blue turned in her seat now, glaring down at the small gem furiously, her brows furrowed, a wicked smile on her face.
"Listen, dirtball. I've had a veeery long week, and I'm not here to listen to your petty little bullshit lies," she hissed, grinning ominously. "So I have some advice for you. No matter what that Hematite is after you for, they will find you eventually. If you're looking for safety in here, you sure as hell won't find it. And so help you stars if you ruin my peace and quiet tonight, I'll crack you myself. You got that, speck?"
About that time, Morganite reluctantly placed another drink down for Blue, quickly stepping away without a word. The diamond leaned up and, without looking away from Axinite, grabbed the new drink.
–
Axinite felt the corner of his eye twitch, though the rest of his expression didn't change.
Ooookay it's time to leave.
The dusty brown gem smacked his lips, his eyes wide. He kept a rather unreadable, but vaguely horrified expression as he rose out of his seat and took a step back.
"Well. I can see that there are. Better places to hide. So I'm just." He started backing away, his hands behind his back. "I'm just gonna go. And. I hope you have a good night, Blue Diamond," he said in a friendly, disarming tone.
Thud.
Just behind the small gem, a very large, very perturbed face appeared in the window. Hematite's eyepiece was glowing in the low light, and he squinted into the window, spotting his target gem rather quickly.
–
Blue watched the smaller gem with undisguised annoyance. Suddenly catching a glimpse of something in the window, she frowned and looked up. Oh, it was... that Hematite? She quickly turned away, giving a nod to Morganite. Morgan slid her another drink, even though she just got a fresh one not minutes ago. He raised a brow, figuring things were about to get interesting.
–
Hematite frowned deeply and tapped on the window.
The small gem jumped with a start and turned around, letting out a rather undignified yelp at the sight of the giant gem. He turned his head to look rapidly between Blue and Hematite, and suddenly realized he couldn't figure out which was worse. He was between a rock and, well. A bigger rock.
The service gem behind the glass slowly drummed his fingers on the pavement, his eyes narrowed.
–
"Best get going,~" Blue said connivingly. Snickering, she took a sip of her drink again. Morgan looked over, furrowing his brows for a moment. Stars, she was really hammering these down. A few of the gems standing near the door backed away upon realization of who was standing outside. They muttered among themselves, moving out of the way. Best not to get in the middle of this one.
–
Axi frowned deeply and looked back at Hematite again. There was no getting out of this one, was there? Well, unless...
His eyes darting toward the dance club part of the bar, the dusty brown gem grinned deviously and made a break for it, sprinting as fast as he could.
Hematite, though it was inaudible from behind the window, let out a half startled, half annoyed 'Hey!'.
–
Morgan and Blue glanced at the Axinite as he ran into the club. Morganite narrowed his eyes and muttered something cross under his breath akin to 'he'd better stay out of trouble'. Blue's attention was elsewhere. She didn't really want to meddle in the smaller gem's affairs right now. It wasn't her problem anymore; she had plenty of her own to worry about.
–
Hematite rubbed at his face in frustration. This gem was such a pain. The service gem peered further into the club, and his annoyed expression faded when he spotted Blue. His brows raised, and he blinked in confusion at her rather... out of character demeanor.
There was a flash of light, and the now normal sized gem made his way into the bar. He stopped near her seat, his hand on the back of his neck.
"... Blue?"
–
Blue raised her head slightly, but didn't look back at Hematite. Morgan, spotting the service gem entering the club, waved but had a noticeably nervous look about him, as though he were trying to subtly tell Hematite something.
"Evenin', Hema! I take it you're here for the Axinite?" he said quickly, pointing towards the club door. He nodded his head toward it, glancing between Hema and where the Axinite ran off to.
–
The service gem looked at Morganite, his brows raised in concern. Okay, what exactly was going on? He'd rarely seen Morgan look like that, and... He'd never seen Blue look like this.
"I... yeah." As he continued, his voice trailed off a bit. His gaze drifted away from Morgan "He was just trespassing in a construction area while I was on... patrol..." He was staring at Blue at this point. "Nothing... too major," he muttered. Hematite went quiet.
–
Blue turned her head, smiling in a welcoming manner.
"Hey kid," she said simply, slowly turning her head back to face Morganite. At least she seemed calmer than she was before. Maybe she didn't want Hematite to see her like this. She'd keep it to small talk if she could help it. Morgan spared Blue a look before turning back to the ivory-haired gem standing nearby.
"Ah, I see! Well, he's in the back. If you can find him, feel free to escort him out," Morganite said quickly, turning to make another drink.
–
Well at least Blue's response was... semi normal. Hematite crossed his arms nervously. He could tell he wasn't going to get much out of these two, with how they were acting,
And, honestly. He didn't really want to know what was going on.
"Right. Well. I'm going to go find him... You two have a good night." Slowly, Hematite turned away from the two gems and made his way into the club. The service gem waded his way through the crowd in search of the dusty White District gem, but found neither hide nor hair of him.
Unfortunately, at this point, the Axinite was far gone. Hema wouldn't be catching him today. The service gem scoffed crossly under his breath as he made his way to the other side of the dance club and eventually exited out the secondary door.
–
Morgan sighed quietly with relief when Hema left the room. The gems around the other side of the counter were getting antsy, and the bartender looked over at his rather inebriated leader with a questioning look. Blue, however, frowned again and looked into her drink, shaking her head faintly.
"No more for me tonight, Morg. Thank you."