CRACK
Pulling his hand away from the hole he'd just created, Hematite grimaced and shook his fist. They weren't kidding, this wall was tough. Idly, Hematite wondered why more of the other of his kin weren't helping with this, but perhaps they were off on other jobs. As far as he could see, only he and three others of his kind were working on this job. Him, Mago, Meta, and Ti. Well, at least Hemmi and Mite weren't here. All four of the harvesters were in the kindergarten, helping tear down a particularly stubborn section of the used up cliff sides to make room for more gem production. Funnily enough, if Hema wasn't mistaken, this was the very wall where most of him and his kind had emerged from. Their emergence points were scattered here and there throughout the kindergarten walls, but most of them came from this area in particular. One or two emerged near the warp pad, and he didn't know the location of the others. Nor did he really care to know.
Reeling his fist back, Hema delivered another blow to the stone surface, taking out a sizable chunk. It fell to the floor heavily and shattered upon impact, the sound reverberating through the tall rock clearing. Similar sounds echoed after it as his companions took out pieces from their own sections. A Peridot walked along the top of the wall, tapping her fingers on her projected screen impatiently.
"Pick up the pace, you big clods! We're supposed have to have this done by midnight!" she shouted down, tapping her foot. Hema looked up at the small green gem with narrowed eyes. These guys certainly love to toss orders around. Delivering another blow to the wall, Hematite let out a heavy exhale. He wiped his brow with a frown. He was starting to get tired after almost an hour of taxing destruction work. Wistfully, he glanced at the three other Hematites working some distance away from him. Mago and the lithe, taller Hematite, Ti, were working away tirelessly at one section of the cliffs, while Meta was busy taking out large sections of the wall with what appeared to be an oddly-shaped hammer. Her progress was much better, and she didn't seem to be slowing down. She'd lift her hammer, take a half-pace back with one foot, reel forward, and take out a huge chunk of wall before relaxing and repeating. Not a single service gem stood near her or her work station. They seemed far more focused on Mago, Ti, and Hema, but they also seemed vaguely wary of her.
Sighing, the ivory-haired gem turned back to his own work. He struck the wall again and again, making little headway. Every once in a while a small chunk of rock would fall to the floor, but his progress was nothing compared to his kin's.
About half an hour later, a voice suddenly spoke up directly behind Hema.
"Hey pipsqueak, stop gently patting that wall for a moment so I can talk to ya."
With a grimace, Hematite stopped and groaned, rolling his eyes. He didn't look behind him, but stared directly at the beat-up wall in front of him.
"What do you want, Mago."
"Psh, I want you to look at me, that's what."
Grumbling, Hematite turned to the taller, ebony-haired gem. He crossed his arms, frowning in annoyance. His knuckledusters vanished in a flash, and he slowly gripped his sleeve in his left hand.
"What is it, I have a job to do."
Mago was standing with her hands on her hips, which were cocked slightly to the side. She was leaning forward slightly so she could be level with Hematite, a smug smile on her face. Hema wrinkled his nose slightly. He hated when she did that. Mago tilted her chin up.
"Yeah, you sure do! And it looks like it's gonna take you a while." Grinning teasingly, the taller Hematite stood straight, her hands still on her hips. "But listen, I got a question for ya."
Arching a brow, Hematite stared in confusion at the taller gem. If she had a question for him, it couldn't be good?
"And what is that?"
Mago's expression was unreadable for a moment before she smirked and shrugged. She turned her head away from him, her bangs partially obscuring her face.
"Do you have anyone that you go to for advice, pipsqueak? I'm asking for a friend," she said a bit quieter than before. Hematite frowned in bafflement.
"You mean like White? I always go to her or Blue-"
"Naah nah nah nah, no diamonds." She shook her head and shifted her weight to her other leg. "No, someone that's not a higher-up. A normal gem. Got anybody like that?" she asked, gazing curiously at the shorter gem.
The shorter Hematite couldn't quite tell what was in Mago's tone of voice that was suddenly making him suspicious, but he avoided prying. He did, however, narrow his eyes slightly. It took him a long moment to think. Who did he have like that? There was Rubes and Puff, but he didn't really go to them for advice.
"Well... there's always Morganite," he said thoughtfully. Mago pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes.
"Who's that?"
"He's a warrior class gem that owns a bar about ten minutes away from the Blue tower. Bright pink neon lights, loud music, lots of people." He paused. "Fluffy pink hair, you can't miss him."
Mago suddenly lifted her hand, palm out to the gem to stop him. Hema stuttered for a second before going quiet.
"Alright thanks pipsqueak, gotta go!" she said quickly, sporting her usual narrow-eyed grin. With that, she left, heading for the warp pad of the kindergarten. Hematite called after her to finish her work, but when he looked over, her section was done. Scorched and smoke-scented, but done. He blinked in surprise.
What was she so riled up about?
And why did he get the feeling he just caused Morgan a fair bit of trouble...?
–
–
The bar wasn't terribly busy tonight, oddly enough. The club was certainly lively, but the lounge area had only a few customers. It was a slower time of the night. Each night, usually, as the first wave of club-goers left, a lull would follow before the really late customers flooded in. This was that time of the night.
With a rather shaken, but stern expression, one of Morgan's warrior class gems, an Amber in half a suit of armor, walked over to the bar and motioned her hand back toward the main club entrance.
"Morganite, there's uh... a gem outside that's asking for you."
–
Morgan spun around just in time to slide one of his bar patrons a drink.
"Hm? Do they not want to come in or something?" he asked with a charming smile. "No worries, I've just handed out the last drink I have queued up. Keep an eye on things for me." He gave a wave of his hand and stepped out from behind the bar, making his way to the door. Odd, if it was anyone he knew they likely would have come inside for this. He opened the door, peeking out into the dark, cool night. At first, he didn't see anything that seemed like someone waiting for him... until he looked to the right.
–
A few buildings down, leaned up against a warehouse with no windows, was a giant gem. Her arms were crossed, her clawed fingers tapping on her upper sleeve. Her face was mostly obscured by dark bangs, the visor over her eyes dimly glowing an off-white light. Seemed she was going over some records on her screen.
As soon as she spotted movement from the bar entrance, she turned, lifting her head, her bangs falling to the sides of her face. She shot the tiny gem an intense stare. After a moment, a smirk crossed her face, and she cocked her head away slightly, giving the pink-haired warrior a sarcastic 'salute' with two fingers.
"Yo, are you Hema's friend 'Morganite?'"
–
Morganite blinked slowly, not saying anything for a moment. He'd never seen this Hematite around before! He saluted sarcastically back, cocking a brow with a smile.
"Why yes, yes I am. May I ask who you are?" he called back, taking a few steps forward. The bar door shut behind him. He looked her over, curiosity piqued. Why was she so big right now? Shouldn't she be a bit smaller in the city? Or did she just not care how she walked around?
–
The gem chuckled and stood up straight, no longer leaning on the wall.
"The name's Mago. I'm a... hah. I'm a 'friend' of pipsqueak's," she said only semi-genuinely. There was a sarcastic sneer on her face. Turning on her heel, she suddenly took a few steps closer to the warrior gem. Her arms uncrossed as she approached.
–
Morgan tapped his fingers on his hips and smirked himself, taking a seat on the bench outside of the bar.
"Pipsqueak eh? Heh. That's a good one." He chuckled, closing his eyes for a moment. However, as she started moving towards him, he opened them again. Glancing up, he watched her feet as she paced forward. He observed her quietly. She seemed a bit suspicious, but he was willing to hear her out. Even if she was here to cause trouble, it wasn't like she'd get far around here. "So what brings you to me, then?" he asked casually. He brushed his fingers through his hair gracefully with a smile.
–
Mago stopped near the pink-haired gem, her hands now on her hips. She stared down at him, but instead of the cocky demeanor she had moments ago, she seemed to ponder something, a slight pout on her face. There was a pause.
"Alright, yeah, this isn't gonna work. Hold on."
The giant gem suddenly crouched down, deftly picked Morgan up by the back of his shirt, and lifted him off of the bench and into the air.
–
Morgan's smile turned quickly into a baffled frown, and he stammered for a moment, his words coming out as mere confused gibberish for a good second.
"WHA-HEY what do you think you're doing?!" he said, perturbed, holding his arms out. He looked offended, almost. "Do you know how to talk to people? It's not like this, let me tell you!" he huffed, crossing his arms as he dangled from her fingers.
–
The service gem chuckled in amusement to herself, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"Oh calm down, just give me a second."
Mago looked around and quickly spotted a building that was almost at her eye level. Standing straight, she walked over and lifted Morgan up to the rooftop, carefully placing him back on solid ground. Without another word, she turned and crossed her arms, leaning against the building lightly. "Much better."
–
Morganite took a few steps onto the roof and turned, placing his hands on his hips. He squinted at the huge gem and pursed his lips.
"Hmph. Well, now that you're done carrying me around like a ragdoll... care to explain?" He said with mild irritation, his bangs falling between his eyes.
–
The giant gem snickered at his grumpy question.
"It's a lot easier to talk like this. It's not as hard on the neck, plus we have some privacy up here." She shot the tiny warrior a sly smile. After a moment, though, her expression fell into something a bit more unreadable. "... Alright so. Hey." Mago drummed her fingers on her upper arm. "Pipsqueak says you're the one he goes to for advice if he can't talk to the diamonds."
–
Morganite casually tapped his heel on the hard surface of the roof, looking away for a moment. His smile returned to him, and he gave the service gem a nod. Ok, so, she knew Hematite and from the sounds of it, they were probably friends? So that wasn't too shady, he supposed.
"Alright. What's on your mind?"
–
There was a long, tense pause. Mago seemed like she wanted to say something, but all of a sudden couldn't find the words. Her fingers continued drumming on her arm. Taking a deep breath, the giant gem sighed and turned to Morganite fully. Her expression almost seemed... nervous.
"How are you with... r." She coughed, covering her mouth with her hand. "Relationship advice."
–
Well now, this certainly was the last thing he was expecting.
He grinned wider now, the faintest of crimson blushes flushing over his cheeks.
"Oh my. Well..." He placed a finger to his lip 'hmm'ing for a few moments. "Ah, well...I myself have been in a rather...shall I say, heartfelt, relationship. Also, I have heard tales from thousands of gems before! I've been told I'm not too terrible with relationship advice." The blush faded, and he craned his head to look up at her slightly. "Why do you ask?..."
–
Mago nodded subtly as she listened to him. Alright, so she got lucky that this was something he'd know about... good. The giant gem awkwardly looked away, still covering her mouth.
"Well. I. Hmm." She tapped her fingers along her upper lip as she inhaled quietly through her teeth. All of a sudden, a look of realization crossed her face. Turning to Morganite, she squinted and pointed one clawed finger at him. "Not a word of this gets back to pipsqueak."
–
Morganite gave Mago another nod and let her continue.
"I won't say a word, I swear it on my gem.~" he said charmingly.
–
The service gem relaxed and returned to crossing her arms. Her shoulders were raised just slightly this time, though. Seemed she didn't want to continue. Pursing her lips, she huffed.
"This gem and I... have a lot in common. We work together, spar, hell, they've kicked my ass a few times. They've taught me... a lot."
–
He started to think himself, shrugging his shoulders.
"Hah... I know how that goes." he said a little quietly. For a moment, he seemed lost in fond memories, his gaze distant. However, he pulled himself back to reality, still listening to the giant gem.
–
She looked away.
"They've been... well. They've been by my side literally since the beginning. I never really... I don't know." Shrugging, she scoffed. "I guess I never paid it much attention until recently." There was another pause. "So, what do you do when you... mmm." Mago swallowed, her voice coming out strained. "When you're pretty sure you have feelings for them, and you think they do for you too, but you're not... sure."
–
Morgan started to shift his weight, pacing slowly in place. He seemed deep in thought for a moment, but soon his smile returned.
"Well... on one hand, the obvious choice is to just, you know... tell them. But if you don't want to go for the more direct route... I'd say just see if they start to show signs of liking you back. I personally wouldn't rush blindly into something like this, but I wouldn't be afraid to take a chance either. The worst they could do is say no." He shrugged, offering her a thoughtful glance, a gleam in his eyes.
–
Mago looked at him with an almost vulnerable openness to her expression. She seemed to take his words to heart, but there was... something else there.
"Mm. Okay, so..." Tapping her arm again, she bit her lip. "What do you do if that gem... mmm. Asks you to do things you think might get you in trouble." Her voice got quieter. "But you feel like it's worth it, if it's with them."
–
He looked confused now, and bit the inside of his cheek. That wasn't quite what he was expecting to hear. Worse yet, he didn't seem to really even know how to answer that.
"Well...You should always do what is right. Don't let them make you feel uncomfortable, and I wouldn't put others at risk for the expense of whatever they ask you to do." He stopped and crossed his arms, concern now filling his tone. "Love can make you do some crazy things... Please don't let it make you stray down a dangerous path."
–
Gazing at the pink-haired warrior, Mago blinked and looked away with... was that guilt? Whatever it was, she shrugged it off quickly, returning to her usual smirk.
"Pssh, love shmove. I'll figure it out. One way or another." An unreadable expression crossed the giant gem's face, and she suddenly sat up and stretched, raising her arms to the sky. "Mmmm well, that's all I had to ask, really.~" She turned to the tiny warrior with a coy smile and lifted her hand up to the rooftop, holding her palm out for him. "Thanks for the advice, Morganite."
–
Morgan uncrossed his arms and looked down to her hand. He remembered how Hematite had carried him some time ago. A familiar warmth befell him. He stepped up into her palm and looked to the ground.
"Not a problem. What will you do now?..." he asked, glancing back to the ebony haired gem.
–
Mago shrugged with a smile.
"I dunno, I'm probably going to go back to work. I kinda ditched to come talk to ya, heheh."
Slowly, she crouched down and placed the pink haired warrior on the pavement. She stood straight again and quickly brushed her hair back behind her shoulders. "Well, be seeing you around, Morganite." She turned, heading down the street with a wave. She wasn't looking at him. "Keep an eye on pipsqueak for me.~"
–
Morganite gave Mago a perplexed wave, continuing to do so even after she was gone. He stopped, thinking about their conversation before turning back to the bar. He was deep in thought, wondering if he'd see her again anytime soon. He hoped things would go well, at least. Regardless, that was an interesting turnabout! Certainly not like any standard night on the job! And speaking of, he had his own work to get back to.
–
–
About an hour later, Mago returned to the Kindergarten.
Her steps echoed down the dark pathways through the cliffs. The moon was high in the sky by this time, shining down on the barren place with pale light. The giant gem stopped when she rounded a corner that lead into a small alcove. It was the place she and Hema had been working in earlier.
"Hey!" She looked around, wandering further into the alcove. "Anyone still here?"
Her fingers rubbed together anxiously. Quietly, she called out.
"Ti?"
"I'm right here, Mago," a soft, almost lilting voice replied from a shadowy cliff side. Slowly, a lithe, tall Hematite walked into the moonlight, her silvery forehead gem glinting. Her silvery hair gleamed in the low light, flowing behind her gracefully. Her brows were arched, and she had one finger to her chin. "You left so quickly, I was worried something happened. I know you finished your work early, but you could have stuck around to help me finish. I've been at it for the past hour." She smiled playfully and brushed her long, wavy hair away from her face.
Mago smiled almost sheepishly and chuckled, crossing her arms.
"Nahh, you could handle that yourself, ya freeloader."
Ti gave a soft, charming chuckle. Mago drummed her fingers on her arm, for once, not joining in on the other gem's quiet laughter. The taller Hematite quickly noticed the change in behavior and tilted her head just slightly, her smile fading.
"Is something the matter? Usually you would have retired for the night by now," she asked curiously, concern painted all over her face. Taking a deep breath, Mago looked up at the taller Hematite, a strange look in her eyes.
"Ti, we need to talk."