B9 watched wide eyed as she and Bismuth worked. Over the past couple of weeks, the two had become close, especially since the lava soak in the Crystal Heart. Whether the two gems were talking or working silently in the forge, B9 felt herself at ease. There was just something so nice about going from the role of teacher to the role of a student There weren't many "lessons" per se. Mostly Bismuth would watch B9 work and offer assistance here and there and give her pointers to improve her technique. The gem was currently working on her weapon, trying to find ways to make it better.
"You're really going to stay here with the Crystal Gems?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Bismuth nodded. "Of course I am. I'm happy here, and I was one of the original Crystal Gems, so I can't exactly leave." B9 frowned "And you don't ever miss HOmeworld?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "No." Bismuth said flatly. "All that stuff I built. The things I did. They were impressive, that I'll admit, but I didn't enjoy doing them. I only completed them because I was ordered to. They didn't make me happy." She said with a shrug.
B9 frowned. "But you were the best. The best of the best." She protested. "I'm sure if you went back they would be easy on you, especially since Bismuths in general are really low in quantity and in quality." She said. "I had to teach myself everything I know, as there weren't any gems built to do the things I could do. They even resorted to using Onyxs. That's how I met Jet."
Bismuth chuckled. "Thanks B9. I appreciate the praise and find it humorous that Homeworld saw such potential." She said, shaking her head. "But I'm a lot happier here. I can build whatever I like and not have anyone tell me any different. Except for Rose, of course." The last sentence had a bit of an edge to it, and B9 could see a shadow briefly cross the gem's face before she shook it off and changed topics. "So. You taught the Onyx well from what your story in the zoo says."
B9 nodded. "Yeah. Honestly, she picked up quicker than I did." She said, chuckling. "Well, why don't you get her down here? I'd love to see what she can do." Bismuth said, glancing over her shoulder at the little work station she had set up for her shorter companion. B9 stiffened slightly. "We….aren't on the best of terms." She muttered. Bismuth raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" she asked, stopping her work to cross her arms and look down at the gem with a raised eyebrow B9 rarely ever took the time to open up, so Bismuth wanted the gem to know that she had her undivided attention.
"Why is that?"
B9 hesitated but relented. Even if Bismuth didn't have any advice, it wouldn't hurt to talk about the unaddressed tension between the two gems. "Buckstar." She muttered, not ceasing her work. "Or rather her death, I guess. It's messed with my head." She admitted. "It's messed with both of our heads, but I think Jet is handling it a lot better than I am. I'm just so angry all the time, and all that anger isn't going anywhere. It's just sitting there….festering. I've had to distance myself because the emotion is rare for both of us. WE just…..grew distant." She said sadly, looking up at Bismuth.
The lavender gem tsked and put a hand on B9's shoulder. "Grief does a lot of things to people. It's something that nobody ever prepares you for, and going through the process is never easy. It was a regular occurrence during the war, but was still an awful thing to go through. I'm sorry that you and Jet were torn apart from this," She said, giving the gem's shoulder a light squeeze. "but maybe that was for the best. I can tell that you still care about her, and she more than likely still cares about you. But there's nothing wrong with needing some time apart to deal with your own baggage."
"Thanks Bismuth." B9 said, putting her hand on the taller gem's arm and squeezing it lightly in response. "For?" Bismuth asked, confusion etched in her features as she raised an eyebrow, confused. "For listening." B9 said seriously, giving the gem a small smile.
….
"How many times do I have to tell you kids? No cats in the store!"
"Sorry Koffee!" Johnathon said, trying to stand between the door and the big pink beast. "Lion chill out." He said, turning and shutting the door behind him. "Stay." He said, holding his hands up. "We'll buy you something while we're in." H11 said, rubbing the animal behind the ear as she grabbed D13's arm and they all walked back inside. "Sorry about that Koffee." Johnathon said sheepishly, approaching the counter.
The man scoffed but sighed, pinching his nose. "Kiki! Jenny! We have customers!" he barked, turning on his heel and heading into the kitchen. The three exchanged a look. They had been in Fish Stew a few times with Steven, but the two teens must have been off the clock, because they had only met Koffee during that time. The man seemed nice enough, though a bit abrasive. Madame Nanefua was their favorite, though.
The trio went to a booth and Johnathon picked up a menu After a few moments, a teen with hoop earrings and fair dark skin approached them, giving them a smile. "Hey guys. New to Beach City? I don't think I've seen you around before."
Johnathon shook his head. "No, actually. We've been here for a while, but have only been here with Steven a small handful of times." He explained, looking up from the menu. "Oh, you know Steven? That's awesome. He's a chill kid. I'm Jenny, by the way." She said, nodding at them. "I'm Johnathon. And this is H11 and D13." Johnathon said, gesturing to his friends across the table, who waved.
"Nice to meet you. So what are you hungry for?" Jenny asked, pulling out a pencil and a small notepad. "Steven says Lion really likes Lion Lickers." H11 piped up. "I don't know what kind of fish he likes, though." She admitted, shrugging. "Well, we don't sell Lion Lickers. That's at the Big Donut. I got you covered though. Steven's picked up stuff for Lion from here a few times." Jenny said, scrambling something down on a piece of paper. "Is ther something you kids wanted, though?" she asked, looking up.
The kids exchanged a look before D13 took out the small briefcase Greg had given them and opened it, handing Jenny a flier. "Yes, actually." Johnathon said, looking u pat the teen. "We're trying to start a band, and we heard that you and your sister play instruments."
Jenny arched an eyebrow and took the flyer, looking it over. "A band, huh? That sounds cool. Something fun to do instead of being tied down here all day." The teen said, stroking her chin. "You guys play?" she asked curiously. D13 and H11 shook his head. "Greg is teaching me guitar, but D13 want to learn keyboard, or whatever anyone is willing to teach us. Mr. Universe is helping with the planning of all of this stuff since he used to be in the music business."
"Cool. I'll run it by Kiki and get back to you." Jenny said, picking up the menus. "Can I get you anything else?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Johnathon shook his head, grinning. "No, we're good." He said, high-fiving his friends as she walked off. "You really think this is going to work?" H11 asked, raising an eyebrow. D13 also looked slightly skeptical. "I think so? And if not, at least we've got a chance to make some new friends." He said, shrugging.
….
"Padparatcha! Flourite! We're back." Rhutile whisper yelled as she stepped into a rather large and open area of the Kindergarten. "And we've got a new Off-Color." Freshwater cringed at being called an Off-Color, but didn't say anything as she followed the gems into the open space.
"Oh! Rhutile and Flourite are back!" Freshwater jumped at the small voice and looked down, arching an eyebrow when she saw the orange Sapphire below her. "Yes, Padparatcha, we're aware." Looking up, Freshwater felt her stomach jump into her chest when she saw the enormous fusion towering over her. "Whoa." She whispered, taking a step back. She found it hard to believe that gems so perfect as the Diamonds could make gems so…..wrong.
"And who is this?" the caterpillar like fusion asked, her voice extremely slow but soothing, giving Freshwater a smile. "Freshwater." The gem said, waving at her. "You don't look Off-Color." The fusion noted, cocking their head to the side. "We know. But she was running from the robots up there, so it appears that looks can be deceiving." Rhutile said, shrugging. Freshwater frowned, biting her lower lip but again let it slide. "So. Who are you?" She asked, looking up at the fusion.
"My name is Flourite. I am a fusion of six gems. Seven if we find the right person. And Padparatcha can only see things that just happened." They said, looking down at the orange Sapphire. "Oh! A new-comer. Her name is Freshwater." She said, looking up at the Pearl.
Freshwater felt like her head would implode as she looked around at the gems before her. How dare these killer robots latch onto her? As if she were defective? As if she were wrong like these gems down here?
She couldn't be wrong….right?
Right?
…
Johnathon ran his hand through Lion's mane as he, D13, and H11 climbed off of the animal's back. They had just finished putting the fliers up around town and were now back at the Car Wash. "Thanks Lion." He said, scratching the animal behind the ears and giggling as he licked his face.
"Hey guys!" The pink haired boy looked up and waved as Steven came jogging up to him, a broad grin on his face. "Hey Steven." Johnathon said, waving as he came to a halt. He hadn't spent much time with the boy, but he was slowly becoming a part of their friend group due to their closeness in age. "I heard you guys wer forming a band. What are you looking for instrument wise?" he asked, beaming.
Johnathon shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. I think we're just going to wing it. Have a good time. We do want to make some cash though, because we're trying to pay someone back." Steven arched an eyebrow. "Pay someone back? What for?" Johnathon's eyes widened. "Oh yeah that's right, I forgot to tell you! We may have wrecked this guys car on accident." He said sheepishly, rubbing his kneck.
Steven looked mortified. "How do you accidentally wreck someone's car?" he asked, looking up at H11 and D13. H11 shrugged. "We were walking and jerk almost ran Johnathon over. He swerved and crashed." The girl and her brother snickered. "Man you should've seen his face though. He was so mad. Dude's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head and like his veins were going to pop." D13 whispered something in her ear and the two siblings doubled over, laughing.
Johnathon blushed. "Come on guys, it wasn't that funny." He said, groaning. "The guy's name was Kevin. He was really mad." Steven stiffened. "Kevin." He said, looking between the siblings who were still crying with laughter. Johnathon nodded and a small smile crept up on Stevens face. "Nice." He said, clapping Johnathon on the back, who looed shocked.
"What do you mean nice?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. Steven shrugged. "Guy's a jerk." He said simply, giving Johnathon a smile. "But I'm still down to help in your band if you want to pay him back."
Johnathon sighed. "Technically the debt's already been paid thanks to Mr. Universe" he said, crossing his arms. "It's just the concept of the thing, ya know?" Steven sighed. "Yeah I get it, I get it." His eyes lit up. "Hey, look on the bright side! AT least the way you'll be making money is doing something you enjoy. Oh yeah, before I forget!" he said, grabbing Johnathon's arm and pulling him towards the Car Wash. "Dad's inside for your lesson. Jet's here too, and so are Peridot and Lapis."
Johnathon's eyes widened. "Oh man I totally forgot!" he said, quickly following Steven inside. "Don't worry about it." Steven said, shrugging. "They've been here for like an hour, but we've all been keeping busy." He said.