1001 Nights in Their Garden

The Sixth Day- Cherry 2.0

Part I- The First Attempt

Author's Note: Apologies for the long hiatus.

The name is Cherry Topaz, thrilled to bits to meet ya! Of course, don't wanna get ahead of my pretty little self, so let's start at the beginning. Hehehe, not like your goin' anywhere.

Spinel spent half the morning staring at the statue of an older, uglier incarnation of yours truly. What with her sappy face, and stupid grin that just screams "Come play with me." Gag. Steven, my better half, was still groggy in the morning dew.

She'd made up her mind that she trusted him. You'd think after five-thousand years she'd quit dragging her feet, but oh well. Anyway, so the little gem lady was like, "I was thinking, why don't we go out together."

The dunce replied, "What do you mean?"

Her eyes moved back to the statue, "Do ya think she still exists?"

Steven stretched out and made a series of weird and prolonged morning grunts, before finally getting to the point. He'd long taken notice of the gems that made up the fusion. "What's her name?"

"She was Cherry Topaz." Was all she could say.

"Do you want to try?"

They spent the better part of the morning trying to bring me into the world again. Spinel just wasn't able to focus. Steven suggested a waltz, but she kept stepping on his feet. Even the more modern stuff just felt silly and wrong to the two halves of this silly fusion. Not that it dismayed them, they erupted in laughter multiple times. Sometimes they fell face flat, other times they landed in absurd and suggestive poses that turned spinel an even darker shade of pink.

Hungry, thirsty, and utterly out of ideas, they headed back to Beach City for something to eat. Noodle arms wandered why they had to leave at all? When he mentioned terms like, bathroom, shower, and shave. She said, "Right. Why didn't I think of that!"

Those terms were a bit of a stretch, but why did she have to give him "privacy". Twenty minutes alone was twenty too many. She knew she should respect that, but she also knew that threatening to blow up his world was a bigger slight. As it happened, she may or may not have stretched an eye under the door to figure out what was going on. After that she ran and stuck her face in the couch cushions, confused and embarrassed.

When he finally came out of the shower and dragged the ostrich's head out of the sand, she immediately clung to him. "Your smell." She sniffed him all over, becoming a tangled knot of cotton candy colored chord.

"Haha, stop that Spinel, it tickles!" He said, tripping over her. It never occurred to her that human beings went to such lengths to not smell like old garbage.

Human beings were such high maintenance. She added, "What eveh it was you did in there", she started to stumble over the words, "Just-erh make sure you don't stop doing it!" He struggled to free himself from her enthusiastic… embrace? Oh the emotions were certainly there but it was more like being hugged by dozens of balloon animal serpents that had been brought to life, absurd as it was terrifying.

The joke lost its luster as her limbs started to twist him annoyingly this way and that. "Spinel! Ugh Spinel this is getting a little uncomfortable." It was no good, like a little kid with a new toy she was totally absorbed in its workings. "Will you please…" Suddenly he exclaimed, "Cut it out!" A bubble formed and expanded out from around him.

"SNAP!" And the rubber band pulled herself together. She lent a hand to help him up. It was probably the least she could do. In the same instant, the joy seemed to drain from her face, and she looked suddenly down cast.

The bubble popped and Steven caught his breath, "Wow you don't have a slow setting do you!"

She rubbed her arm, "Hah, I suppose I don't." She smiled sheepishly at him.

He straightened out his disheveled clothes, "Don't worry about it. I know you were just being friendly. Just do me a favor when we go into town?"

"For you? Anything." She said.

There was something about her brutally honest nature that he found oddly charming. Maybe that was why he smiled at her. "Don't do that for one, and for another. Look here." He poked her gem.

"What the," she said. Then he dragged his finger to flick her nose in that old bit. "Why you," she couldn't help but giggle in response.

He smiled back, "A wandering eye is one thing, but seriously keep it out of the bathroom." Steven winked, and if she'd had a heart it might've skipped a beat. Instead she hugged him so she wouldn't have to look him in the face.

"Five thousand years of waiting for someone who stood me up, and this is the most embarrassing thing I've done! What's fair about that?" She said in something between a whine and a jest. That might've been how I was formed right there too. Both of their gems started to glow and everything, but no good.

His phone started to vibrate. "Hold that thought."

She stuffed her head back in the couch cushions in shame, muttering, "Clod. Clod. Clod. Clod…"

"Hello?" He listened intently for a few minutes then let the phone drop from his hand. Steven dragged Spinel from her hiding place, and both were out the door in a flash.

On the other side of town Bismuth was lamenting her showroom which was currently shining with the white-hot brilliance of the Sun. She was just hoping that Steven or one of the other Crystal gems would be able to fix this. Pearl was really getting on her nerves.

I know what you're probably thinking, "Why are you wasting my time with more of the interactions between these two dorks when your far more interesting than either of them, you gorgeous, beautiful and charismatic ray of starshine, you." To which I say, "You have an excellent point, but hey all good things come to those who wait."