Doughnuts, Diamonds and Disappearing Puddles
"Where the heck did she come from?! There's no way she's from around here…"
"Lars! Keep your voice down! And…I…I don't really know. I haven't really asked her yet."
"Well, when do you plan on asking ? 'Cuz I don't exactly feel safe with some weirdo squatting in the corner!"
"Keep. Your. Voice. Down!" Sadie snarled through gritted teeth. "Look, this woman almost drowned less than twenty minutes ago! The last thing she needs is someone grilling her with questions!" She looked over her shoulder hesitantly.
The stranger was sitting in the furthest corner of the Big Doughnut.
She had managed to aid the tall woman in walking down the beach, across the boardwalk and back to the doughnut shop.
Despite looking quite graceful, the mystery lady was shaky on her feet and contradictingly clumsy. On more than one occasion, she had almost toppled them both over- seeming to briefly lose control of her long legs.
But she was polite and good humoured and consistently grateful too, offering thanks to Sadie with every second breath.
Lars was staring at the well-mannered stranger now, with the same curious-but-wary intensity that the odd woman herself was staring at the Lion Lickers refrigerator.
"Stop staring," Sadie pleaded with her co-worker, almost embarrassed on behalf of him for his rudeness.
The young man ignored her request, continuing to gawk and muttering. "She almost kinda looks like one of those…the ones who hang out with…" He grunted, shaking his head. "Whatever the heck she's doing here and whoever the heck she is, I'm not getting involved." He looked down at Sadie, rolling his eyes before dismissively pulling out his phone and walking away from the counter. "You brought her in here. You can get rid of her before opening. I'm not taking any hits if the manager finds out that you gave her free food…"
Now it was Sadie's turn to roll her eyes.
"Because you don't give a free coffee to every girl who walks in here?" she almost said out loud.
"And you'd better get a mop too! She's dripping a friggin' lake under the table over there!" the contradictor himself shouted as he sauntered into the back room, completely forgetting about any form of décor or subtlety.
Sadie just about ready to slap a hand to her forehead as she made her way over to her could-have-been drowning victim. Regardless of any disagreements she had with Lars, she found herself worrying for the white-haired lady.
She cleared her throat, feeling her heat starting to heat up when the woman's bright gaze redirected to her own. "Uh…is everything ok?"
The stranger smiled brightly. "Yes, perfect. Thank you."
"That's…uh…that's good," Sadie replied, scratching the back of her neck as she racked her brain for something intelligent to say. "Is your…is your doughnut ok?" She gestured to the untouched chocolate-glazed pastry on the table. "I could get you a different flavour if you'd like. We've got like fourteen different frostings and like seven or eight fillings…and I could fix you one fresh too, if that's better?"
Yes.
Rambling about doughnuts.
That was definitely going to help a woman who had almost lost her life to the oceans visible from the shop's window.
But the stranger simply looked up at her with the same gentle smile and shook her head. "The colour is fine and the scent is delightful. I am very happy with this..." She tilted her head. "Did you call it a dough…nut?"
Sadie nodded dumbly.
Wow, her first instincts had been right: she wasn't from around town.
"Yeah, that's a doughnut alright. Your typical breakfast, lunch, dinner and/or dessert pastry. Is your coffee ok?" The steaming Styrofoam cup looked virtually untouched too. "I thought it might warm you up…"
"Warm…me…?" The woman looked confused for a moment before instantly beaming as though something had just dawned on her, realisation spreading from the upward curve of her lips to the peak of her brow-line. "Oh, I see!"
Without warning, she suddenly plunged her hand into the cup, sending the brown liquid overflowing and drizzling down the sides.
Sadie let out an involuntary shriek, grabbing the woman by the elbow and yanking her hand back out. "No! No! I meant warm you up by drinking the coffee!" She took the lady's hand, worriedly inspecting it for burn damage. "I didn't mean for you to…to…"
Her voice left her throat, followed quickly by her breath when the stranger's hand suddenly closed around hers.
Her skin felt oddly cold, even in the wake of being submerged in hot coffee, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. The soft, unintrusive chill reminded Sadie of slipping into crisp, new bedsheets after a long day of work or a cool, gentle breeze on a hot summer's afternoon.
For a moment, she could only stare at the stranger's lithe, greyish fingers looped around her own- their skin palettes entwined like strange, beautiful braids.
"Are you…hurt? Burned? At all?" Sadie eventually asked her, daring to look the stranger in the eye once more.
She was still smiling but her brow was arched with a kind of worried tristfulness. "I am not burned but thank you for your concern. I apologise for my lack of grace…you must forgive me. I am…not of this place."
Sadie nodded with a nervous giggle. "Yeah, I figured as much…oh, uh…" She unlaced her finger's from the strangers' realising how bizarrely physical she was being with someone she'd only met less than an hour ago. "Sorry. Uh…" She coughed, straightening up. "Even if you're…somehow…not burned from the coffee, you really should go to a hospital. Second hand drowning is a really serious thing. Do you want me to call an ambulance for you?"
The stranger laughed the most melodic laugh that Sadie had ever heard.
"Again, I can only assure you that I am truly unharmed. If I were hurt, I would have retracted long ago." She bowed her head, her long hair slipping past her slender shoulders. "But your attendance to my needs is positively without flaw. You are called Sadie, are you not?"
"Yeah, that's me," the blonde haired young woman confirmed with a grin, still trying to figure out where this woman was from exactly. "What did you say your name was, again?"
"I am called Kimberlite."
"Kim Burlight? Heh, nice to meet you."
"You work in service quarters, do you not?"
"I…huh? Well, I've worked here at the Big Doughnut for the last few summers."
"And…the "Big Doughnut" is your master?"
"Well, yeah. I work for the company, I guess."
Kim's speech patterns hinted that English was definitely not her first language but in stark contrast to this, she had no decipherable accent so to speak of.
"May I speak to the Big Doughnut? I wish to praise your service to her so that she might reward you."
Sadie's eyebrows shot up under her tufty bangs. "Whuh? The Big Doughnut's not a person. Like, I've got a manager but he's not in today. Oh! Thanks for the thought though. I'm always happy to help."
Kim still looked utterly confounded. "Your master is not here? Then who are you in service to?"
"In service to?" Weird foreign syntax, she supposed. "Well, I'll serve food to anyone who comes in the door, really. As long as they can pay for the snacks, we can provide them. That's what the employee manual says anyway…" She shrugged with a smile, quickly adding. "You're a special case though. Don't worry."
"So you're in service…to the public? To anyone who can afford your service? Not to one single master?" Kim's excitement seemed to be mounting by the second, a wide smile bursting across her face. "That is positively inspired! Novel! Wonderful! Oh, this place is just as mesmerising as the rumours have made it out to be…" She clapped her hands in delight, ecstatic for one moment and then at the next, she had keeled over, leaning across her thighs and groaning.
"Oh my gosh, are you ok?" Sadie stooped to Kim's level, her hands upon the taller woman's shoulders to help her sit up again.
"I…I am still fine," she responded, her breathing a little more laboured. "I need to be careful with how excited I get. With the crash earlier…my physical form is possibly still healing…"
"What? You were in a crash?"
For the first time, Sadie noticed that one of the woman's bare forearms was covered by what appeared to be a kind of black, strap-on gauntlet. "Oh, hang on…are you diabetic?"
It must have been an insulin pouch; Sadie felt like an idiot. The stranger must have been talking about a sugar crash. "It's ok. My cousin's got Type Two. I know how to do this." She started to remove the black covering that she presumed to contain a set of insulin needles. "Do you have something we…can…check your lev-…?"
Her mouth stopped working, her words screeching to a grinding halt as the gauntlet fell away.
Beneath the pouch was not an ordinary (albeit greyish or greenish) stretch of skin.
Beneath the pouch was what appeared to be a form of hard, verdant rock.
Coloured jade and stretching from the woman's wrist to her elbow, the rocky substance was uneven and flecked with marks of silvery greys and clusters of clear, crystalline pebbles.
At first, Sadie assumed it to be some kind of ornate piece of jewellery but it didn't take her long to realise that the stone was actually fused to the woman's skin.
Kim, herself, looked a little bashful and seemed to be hunching down in her seat as she slowly retracted her arm.
"Oh…I'm sorry!" Sadie said quickly, immediately handing her back the covering. She had probably just humiliated a woman with what looked like an uncomfortable skin condition. "Sorry, I didn't mean to take your, uh, thing off. I just thought that…"
"It is…fine. This is just my gem protector. I am supposed to wear it at all times to prevent damage to my gem but…" Kim shrugged. "I never see anyone else wearing one. If I am honest, I do not particularly enjoy wearing the device"
Sadie's eyes locked on to the swirling green colours, tracing each curve and cut with amazement. "It's really beautiful. I mean…in a certain light, those parts look like diamonds..." She blushed, lifting her head and meeting Kim's eyes again. "Uh, sorry…I don't mean to stare…"
Kim smiled widely, taking Sadie's hand and guiding it to rest on the strange stone. "Shh. No more apologies. It is I who should be apologising to you, Sadie. For inconveniencing you." She followed the human woman eye's downward. "And they look like diamonds because they are diamonds. Some of the smaller fragments grow closer to the surface of my gem."
"You can grow diamonds in your skin?" Sadie breathed, forgetting her initial insecurities and running her fingers over the coarse, sparkling flecks in wonder.
"Only the pieces that they need me to replace." Kim frowned. "I must apologise for the size. It must be disappointing to see them so puny but I haven't been tasked with growing an average size fragment in a while. I really do not get much notice before my commissions but then again, I suppose the Diamonds cannot control when they get injured..."
"I'm gonna be honest and say that I'm not sure what you're talking about," the human woman said with a smile. "But even a "puny" piece of diamond like this one is worth millions here in the States. Like, if you went to any jewellery retailers in the country, they'd probably make you're their queen or something. Or at least a spokesmodel."
"These pieces are of value to you? But they are not sentient. Not even slightly…"
Kim spread her hands in bemusement, knocking what was left of the coffee on to the floor.
"Oh no. Have I soiled your work station?"
"Nah, it's all good," Sadie all but garbled, hastily removing her hands from the woman's stone adornment as she stood up. "I was gonna get a mop anyway. For the seawater, y'know?"
She gestured vaguely to the seawater puddles around the table, now quickly intermingling with the dribbles of black coffee that ran in estuaries across the tiles.
"Please, Sadie. I created this mess. Allow me to aid you. It would be the least that I could do in exchange for your excellent attentiveness."
Kim lifted her hand and there was no way that Sadie could have prepared herself for what happened next.
The stone suddenly glowed a bright, white light and the human woman watched in amazement as all of the liquid- as though it were a piece of gauze material- lifted from the ground and slowly vanished where it floated. Every drop of coffee and water suddenly fazed into thin air as though it had never existed in the first place.
No colour. No stain. No scent. Gone.
"Is that sufficient?"
Kim turned to her with a wide smile, standing up to offer a hand to Sadie- who had not realised that she had fallen to her knees in shock. It wasn't that she had never seen supernatural abilities before, (the lighthouse incident still gave her the occasional shivers at night), she just hadn't been expecting it from a woman who was fit to be sent to the hospital.
"You just-?! How did you-?!"
"It is simply one of my abilities. I do not normally use it often so I offer my apologies once more if it was disappointingly slow."
"Your abilities?! You can just do that?! You-?" Sadie stopped, slowly taking Kim's hand and studying the stone on the woman's forearm. "You…really just did that, didn't you?"
The woman with green and grey marbled skin stood up and nodded, smiling. "Yes. I did. Did I do something wrong?" Kim paused, looking a little troubled. "Would you have preferred if I had left the liquid where it was?"
"Hang on a moment," the doughnut shop employee thought. "Strange but weirdly beautiful woman…who talks like she's from another planet…with a stone embedded into her skin…who can use magic?"
This time, Sadie had to grab herself by the wrist to stop herself from slapping a hand to her forehead in exasperation.
Of course.
Kim. Burlight.
Kim-burlight.
Kimberlite.
"You're one of them," she said aloud, her eyes widening slightly with realisation as she spoke her uncovered truth aloud. "Oh! Now, it makes sense. You're one of Steven's mom's friends!"
As she spoke, Sadie could feel her pace of speech starting to get faster as the words gushed from her mouth. "Ha! I am such an idiot. That makes so much sense! I was wondering about the hair and the skin and the jewel and everything but that's because I thought you were, like, y'know, completely human? Not that there's anything wrong with not being completely human! I mean Steven and the gems are some of the nicest people I know. Heck, I'm actually kinda relieved now! I thought you needed some serious med care after that whole drowning thing and turns out you're gonna be fine. Don't worry, I know that you guys are pretty good with water. Lars and I once saw Garnet just walk straight into the ocean before – just like she was going downstairs into a basement or something- and she didn't come out for about two or three hours! Talk about endurance, even without the lack of oxygen, I can't imagine the sea's your typical walk in the park…"
Despite the unconscious voice of her grade school drama teacher barking at her to slow down, she couldn't help but continue her skittish ramble. Something about just watching the willowy woman's reactions to her garbled monologue was enough to set an uncomfortable yet wonderful spark of electricity shooting up her spine. Every small flick of her eyelid and taut line in her jaw filled her an inexplicable kind of frightened, excited adrenaline: as though she was afraid that if she stopped talking, Kim would suddenly cease to exist all together.
"…and your name. Kimberlite is a type of precious stone, right? Like Sugilite? I met her before, a little over a year ago. Can't say it was a positive experience but I think she had some things to work out with Pearl. No family is perfect. But anyway, it is Kimberlite, yeah? Like one word? Good thing I figured that out! I was calling you Kim! I'm so sorry. Ha…I'm glad I figured that out before I said something else that made me look like a complete and total mor-…!"
Sadie had taken a step sideways as she spoke, (a habit of hers when she was rambling), only for the sole of her shoe to become intimately acquainted with one of the smaller puddles that Kimberlite appeared to have missed.
She violently skidded sideways, bracing herself in the anticipation of the harsh, cold slap she'd take from the floor tiles.
But this impact never came.
When Sadie opened her eyes again, Kimberlite was leaning over her, having caught her mid-fall.
Her own pert, rounded nose was only inches from the gem's long and hooked one; suddenly her face was aflame.
They simply stared at each other for a moment before Kimberlite eventually smiled.
"You can call me Kim," she told the human softly. "I like Kim. I like hearing you talk too, Sadie. I should like to hear you talk more often…" Her smile dissipated briefly and she cocked her head to one side in curiosity. "But please do tell me, what is a Steven? And-?"
"M-My Kimberlite!?"
Before she could say another word to the smaller woman cradled in her arms, Kimberlite was suddenly abruptly interrupted by a shriek from across the restaurant.
Both of them turned to see a Peridot standing by the door, a blue diamond emblazoned across her uniform, a destabilising cannon mounted on to her right limb enhancer and a positively scandalised expression on her face.
"Human!" she barked, raising her weapon with wide, unblinking eyes. "Unhand the Kimberlite this instant or face the pains of certain death!"
"Oh, hey, Peridot," Sadie greeted, awkwardly attempting to stand up straight. She could recall Steven mentioning that Peridot wasn't the best with social interactions and having witnessed this already first-hand, she chucked the gem's shouted threats up to a misunderstanding. "How's it going? Is that a new, uh, shirt? And have you…maybe gotten taller?"
"I warned you!" the Peridot snapped, starting to charge the weapon, only to find her target blocked by the gem who had coerced her into coming to Earth in the first place.
"Peridot, stand down," Kimberlite told her. "It's alright. This Sadie is no threat to me or to you."
At this moment in time, Lars took the opportunity to walk out of the back-room, yawning and scratching his back. "Ok, Sade…I'm done my morning nap so…" His eyes turned to dinner plates at the scene before him, his gaze darting from Sadie to Kimberlite to Peridot to Kimberlite to Sadie and finally settling on the weapon on Peridot's arm. "Actually, y'know what? I'm gonna just take my afternoon nap a little bit early today…" And with that, he abruptly returned to the back room.
"Enough of this farce!" the bright green gem yelped, obediently lowering the blaster but practically growling at Kimberlite as she ordered her to: "Get over here now! Don't touch that human, you don't know where it's been!"
Sadie frowned, feeling a little indignant. "Hey, I showered this morning…"
"You will show the Sadie some respect," Kimberlite stated authoritatively, her hand settling on Sadie's shoulder. "If she had not aided me, I very well may be shattered by now."
"There wouldn't have been a risk of you being shattered if you had just stayed in the ship like I told you to!" Peridot all but shrieked.
"Please Peridot. To act in my protection is to act in the protection of the Diamond Authority. You know that."
For a brief few moments, the gems seemed to be sharing a silent dialogue.
Then the Peridot rolled her eyes, heaving an exasperated sigh as she turned to Sadie and recited in the most wooden, unamused tone of voice: "The Court of Blue Diamond thanks you for your invaluable service. We hope that one day you will be of value to us again. Pray that your race never comes to blows with ours." She redirected her attention to Kimberlite once again. "You need to return to the ship as soon as possible. This goes far beyond our original agreement. You are here to observe- not to..." She gave Sadie a brief, withering but thoroughly reviled look. "…interact."
Now it was Kimberlite's turn to sigh, slowly dropping her hand from Sadie's shoulder.
"Very well. Just keep your blaster down. We need to keep a low profile, after all."
"Says the gem who wanders away from safety only to try and practically fuse with a human being," the Peridot muttered, holding the plexiglass door open as Kimberlite prepared to leave.
Sadie's cheeks turned from a rouged frustration to a bashful rose when the verdant, ardent gem suddenly took her by the hand. "I am so sorry for Peridot's behaviour. It is my fault that she is here and despite that, she really is only trying to keep me safe."
In spite of the sudden urge to snatch her hand away from Kimberlite's, Sadie only shook her head, managing a slightly flustered smile. "It's all good. You should see how scary my mom gets when she's feeling protective."
"I only wish there was some way that I could repay your great kindness, Sadie."
"What? No. Don't mention it. Like I said, I'm just relieved that you're not hurt or something…"
"Still, there must be something that I could do to…" Kimberlite looked down at her hands for a moment, her gaze slowly travelling along her left arm. "Wait, did you not say that the non-sentient diamond fragments are of value to you?"
Before Sadie could offer any form of reply, Kimberlite had released her hand and placed it over the gem that lined her own forearm.
The sparkling stone glowed beneath her fingertips and the gem shuddered slightly.
"You're not-?! Do not-!" spluttered Peridot, looking utterly horrified at what she was witnessing.
But Kimberlite did not stop and a few seconds later, her head was lifted once more. She smiled widely, placing something small and slightly jagged into Sadie's hand. "It is quite small but it has sufficient cuts to be considered perfect in most cultures. I only lament that I could not give you more right now…"
"Did you take something out of your arm?! Are you ok?!" Sadie begged to know, surveying Kimberlite carefully, only to be met with the same warm, melodic laughter that had filled her with joy earlier.
"I am fine, Sadie. It was only part of my epidermis. No need to worry."
The human watched with acutely shell-shocked awe as Kimberlite walked from the establishment, Peridot snarling at her with every step.
It took her a few moments to regain her breath but when Sadie's legs finally stopped shaking, she had a moment to look down at what Kimerlite had actually given to her.
"Woah…is that…?"
She had only ever seen two of them in real life.
One in her mom's favourite necklace and the other when she had worked part-time at a department store and had the privilege of helping with a wedding order.
But despite her lack of experience with them, there was no denying that nestled in Sadie's palm was a flawless, clear cut, pear-shaped diamond.
"She tipped you with a rock? Lame…"
Sadie jumped slightly, realising that Lars had finally emerged from the back room once more and was now standing at her back.
She indignantly clutched the diamond to her chest, quickly slipping it into her breast pocket. "Nice to see you've finally returned to the land of the living!" she snapped up at her co-worker.
"I would have loved to help out this morning, Sade, but you know that I hate taking someone else's chance to prove their managerial skills and you know that I don't work at my best without at least nine hours rest…"
But Sadie had already tuned him out as she began to wipe down the table that Kimberlite had been sitting at. Her hands settled over the point where the gem's own hands had been elegantly folded atop the marbled surface.
She thought about the way Kimberlite's hand felt in hers.
She wanted to feel it again.
Hey, thanks for reading!
From now on, the chapters will take on more of a vignette style of narration.
If you're wondering where in the timeline this takes place, it would be just a few days after "Message Received" , though feel free to treat this as an alternate timeline.
The next few episodes will see the return of some more of our loveable canon characters!
Hope you've enjoyed so far!