A/N: Since I've started writing these drabbles, I've imagined Garnet's bluntest lines/moments to be Sapphire's fault.
When Citrine asks Sapphire for a word in private, of course Sapphire thinks it's weird. There again, she thinks most of Citrine's antics are odd in some way or another, so she doesn't think too much of it and obliges the request anyway.
"Okay, so I know you and Ruby have to work together, and it's not something either of you has control over," Citrine begins.
Is this why she's been brought to a secluded corner of the recreation center? "Yes," Sapphire says slowly.
"And I don't resent you for that. You're a nice person, Sapphire."
"Don't take this the wrong way, Citrine, but I feel like telling me what I already know isn't the reason we're standing here."
"No offense taken." Citrine waves it off, and then suddenly gets into Sapphire's personal space with her hands clutched at her chin. There is a shining look of hope in her eyes. "But you can tell me everything Ruby says about me, right?"
What?
"Erm, I'm sorry, I think I might have missed something," Sapphire says, taking a small step back.
Citrine lets out an exaggerated sigh. "You're working with Ruby every day; you have to gossip at some point," she says, clearly trying to tamp down her mild annoyance. "And Ruby has to talk about me, I just know it. All I'm asking is for you, Sapphire, to tell me what she said." And Citrine looks to Sapphire expectantly.
This is going to be awkward. No sense in dancing around the subject, though.
"She doesn't talk about you," Sapphire says point-blank.
"What?" Citrine laughs, but it's a fake sound; she's clearly trying to cover up some other weird behavioral urge. "Of course she does. We used to be a thing, you know."
"I know that. She still doesn't talk about you."
"If she was embarrassed at all, I'm used to it. You can say so."
"I'm not trying to protect her, Citrine. She really just doesn't mention you."
At first Citrine looks like she wants to contest the subject some more—or maybe just cry—but then she screws up her face and sniffs. "Well, you haven't known each other that long, anyway. She probably just doesn't trust you enough to talk about me. That's all. Thanks for trying anyway, Sapphire."
Citrine leaves before Sapphire can speak, but that's probably a good thing, all things considered. She flags down an asymmetrical tourmaline for a conversation that is decidedly more upbeat.
She's changed her outfit recently, Sapphire notes. Instead of loose fitting pants and a form fitting blouse, she's wearing a summer dress with a lot of ruffles and a hemline above the knee. It doesn't quite feel like her style, but it certainly doesn't look bad. Good for her, changing things up.
More or less unbothered by the whole conversation (leave it to Citrine to be this weird), Sapphire shrugs to herself and rejoins the rest of her friend group, conveniently just as a particularly hilarious round of banter begins, and she doesn't think about that conversation for the rest of the recreation time.
All the same, she feels it's only fair to mention Citrine's prodding to Ruby once they're back in the relative privacy of what Sapphire is starting to think of as their office.
Ruby grimaces. "I thought she'd been acting strange recently, especially with that outfit change." She rubs the back of her neck and sighs. "I should probably talk to her."
"It sounds like you know what all this means," Sapphire remarks. She has a hunch that she knows what this is all about, as well, but she's also a little skeptical of her own conclusions. They're just too obvious. There again, Occam's razor would suggest that that is precisely why she is correct.
"Yeah. I just didn't expect her to try and outdo you."
Nope. Either Occam's razor is defective, or Sapphire really doesn't understand Citrine after all. Well, she supposes the latter is nothing to be ashamed of.
Nonetheless, she has to reply with a dumb, "Wait. What?"
Ruby gives her a funny look. "Um, yeah. Citrine's new dress is almost exactly like yours, and when we're in a group she does everything she can to one-up you in conversation. Have you not noticed any of that?"
"I noticed she changed her outfit; I just attributed the rest to… well," Sapphire gestures with a shrug. "Citrine being her usual strange self, or maybe hoping to snag your attention again. I didn't think too much of it after that."
"Of course you didn't," Ruby mutters, rolling her eyes. "And, knowing Citrine, she's taking that as a sign of condescension, like you think she's beneath you."
"How could I do that? I'm a defective gem that was removed from my typical caste to live out the rest of my existence in an underground prison, just like her."
"You and I know that, but Citrine doesn't think like that, Sapphire. She thinks we do more than work together."
Sapphire pauses, thoughtful. Then she declares, "That's absurd."
"That's why I should talk to her. Especially if she's harassing you for gossip about me."
After a quick moment of consideration, Sapphire finds the corners of her mouth tilting up. "You know, I think I'm starting to see a trend with all of these former—"
"Don't finish that sentence."
Her smile becomes a full on grin, toothy and teasing. "Oh, so you've noticed it too?"
"Sapphire, shut up. Seriously." Ruby's frown indicates that she's not impressed, but her demeanor also doesn't feel angry. Annoyed and a little flustered, sure, but also tolerant like she knows she deserves to be heckled, at least a little.
Sapphire can't help the way she laughs. Ruby's expression is priceless. This situation is funny. What's there not to laugh at?
She stops when she notices that Ruby is no longer reluctantly playing along with her teasing. She's staring instead, and her expression is entirely enigmatic. She doesn't seem like she's starting to get emotional, though, which is the really odd part.
"Too far?" guesses Sapphire with a small grimace.
Ruby's gaze doesn't change. It seems as if she's trying to figure something out, but what that could be Sapphire can't even begin to guess at. "I don't think I've ever heard you laugh like that," she says with a trace of awe.
Honestly, Sapphire doesn't know how to react to that. She clears her throat and tries to clear her mind in the same instance. "Well, anyway," she says, swiveling around in her chair and opening up the first of the eight messages in her inbox. "I should probably get to work. I'm sure they're wondering why I haven't replied to anything by now."
Truth is, they probably haven't. Sapphire has taken up to several hours to answer complicated queries in the past, and the general rule is the answers will get there when they get there, and the more you pester her to hurry it up the less helpful her response will be. Ruby doesn't know that, though, and therein lies the advantage.
So what if she's never laughed like that before? It doesn't mean anything. Well, it shouldn't anyway. Right?