A/N: I started out intending to write something else entirely, and this is the conversation that popped up instead. I think I like it here, though, even if it did take me an absurd amount of tries to get it to feel right. Enjoy!

"So," Ruby says after taking a long, slow breath. "How are you?"

This question is more complicated than it seems. Sapphire is coming to recognize that Ruby always starts her most serious inquiries with a 'so'.

She blinks, swiveling around in her chair to face the red gem sitting cross-legged on the metal floor in front of her. Ruby's elbows are resting on her powerful thighs, and the expression she has tilted up at Sapphire is prodding and, underneath it all, deeply apprehensive.

The problem is that, for all that she knows Ruby means business, Sapphire can't figure out what in the cosmos she is being asked. "How am I about what?"

"Are you happy?"

"Ruby, I think I need some context."

The tension within Ruby breaks, and she flushes maroon. "Just—you know." She reaches up to tug at the hair by her temple with one hand and gestures with the other, abrupt and short. Her hand slaps her leg when it comes back down. "This. What we're doing. I just—I want to make sure everything is still okay."

Has Sapphire ever indicated otherwise?

"Ruby, if I thought there was something wrong I would have brought it up by now."

"Well, honestly, I'm not sure you would." Ruby tugs on her hair again, a little stronger this time. "You always put everybody else before your own safety and happiness, Sapphire. You don't even think before you're doing it! I'm just worried that—I mean, what if…" Unable to maintain eye contact, Ruby looks down and away. She props her elbows up on her knees and braces her palms on her temples like she's just trying to hold herself together.

Sapphire's eye widens. Her shoulders stiffen. She grips the armrests of her chair, hard. She breathes, but she can't move. Ironically, she is frozen in place by the horror of Ruby's half-spoken statement. "Ruby, do you honestly think I'm faking this?"

"No, not really." Ruby rubs at her eyes with the heel of her gem-free palm. "We just haven't talked about it at all since this started over ten years ago, and I know what I think you feel but I'm terrified that I'm just seeing what I want to see, because it's not like I actually know, and I've been so scared to bring it up because what if I really have been missing all of these signs that you're not happy and inadvertently forcing you to—"

"Ruby." But simply interrupting isn't enough. It wouldn't have been even before noticing that her eyes have gone glassy, but now Sapphire feels a sense of culpability and urgency welling up inside her. How hadn't she seen this coming? How could she have been able to prevent it?

You need to fix this, in no uncertain terms. You can't let her feel like this anymore, or ever again.

But how? There are a lot of words swirling about in her mind, but right now Sapphire wouldn't know how to string a sentence together if she tried. Even if she could manage that, who's to say she won't just be making things worse? She's apparently already done that, and she hasn't even been trying!

"I'm not very good at this, am I?" she says softly, looking down at her own hands, which are clasped in her lap.

"What?" Ruby looks up, and while one of her hands is still tangled in her curly hair and her eyes are still wet her expression is entirely uncomprehending. "Why would you say that, Sapphire?"

"Because this is my fault." She gestures to Ruby's current state. "I assumed that the only things we would need to discuss were conflicts, and if nobody brought those up then we were fine, but you've spent all this time wondering if I was really on the same page as you, scared that I wasn't because I've never said otherwise." She's not sure if coming closer is appropriate at a time like this, but she forces her frozen limbs to move and sinks to the floor in front of Ruby anyway. It's encouraging when she touches Ruby's elbow and the other doesn't flinch away. Gently, she disentangles Ruby's hand from her hair and winds their fingers together. This is okay, right? Sapphire hopes so, because she doesn't think she would react well to a lack of contact right now.

"It's not fair for you to blame yourself; I never brought up that it was bothering me," says Ruby. She doesn't pull her hand away, but she does wipe at her eyes again with the back of the other. "I should know better than to just let things sit like that. I'm the one who's done this before."

"I didn't see this coming." Sapphire traces Ruby's broad, strong red knuckles with the tips of her gloved fingers. Her cheeks are burning from the guilt as she gazes at their interconnected fingers from behind the aquamarine screen of hair over her eye. "Maybe I just didn't want to because I wanted so badly to believe that everything was fine. I think the worst part is that I didn't even notice you were upset—when I've never been this close to anyone, how self-centered must I be to have missed that? I'm sorry, Ruby. I never had any conflicts to bring up, but I didn't realize that articulating the good things was important, too." Now her cheeks are burning for a whole other reason, but she needs to do this. Even if she doesn't really know how to put this into words, she needs to try. Ruby deserves to hear it.

"Sapphire…" Ruby's voice is small and trembling. She either can't believe her ears, or this just isn't good enough.

"If I had known you needed to hear it, I would have told you," Sapphire says quietly, glancing up and making eye contact again. "I would have talked about how much I appreciate your warmth and the way you laugh. I would have thanked you for how patient you are when I don't know what to say or do. I…" She lets out a breath and swallows back the fear of figuratively laying herself bare. Sapphire's not good at being vulnerable—she's been through too many Containment Units, she knows better—and while Ruby has never betrayed the trust Sapphire's placed in her, this is still hard to do. She wants to, though; she wants Ruby to hear and understand, to not feel as if she is the only one anymore.

Ruefully, she offers a small smile. "I would have said so many things if I had known, but it's a little late for that now, isn't it?"

At this point Ruby can't scare Sapphire, no matter what she tries. Sapphire can still be startled, though, and Ruby proves it now as she lurches forward and throws her arms around Sapphire's neck. Their cheeks press firmly together as Sapphire grabs on to Ruby's strong shoulders in order to keep from toppling over.

"Ruby?"

Ruby doesn't speak. She just bows her head into the embrace and holds on tight. Her arms are quivering, which certainly isn't a good sign.

Even when she tries, she only makes things worse. What is wrong with her? Why didn't she See where to stop talking?

Well, to be fair, the more stressed Sapphire is the more she has to focus on her future vision in order to make it work properly, and right now all of her focus is on Ruby, but a warning of some kind still would have been nice.

"I'm sorry," says Sapphire, holding on helplessly. "I didn't mean to upset you more."

"Sapph, you didn't," Ruby says into the side of her neck. "Stop apologizing."

She makes a little noise in her throat. It's not that she minds the nickname (because, truthfully, it warms her right down to the toes), it's just—how can Ruby use it at a time like this?

They hold each other in silence for a little while before Ruby's fingers flex through Sapphire's long hair. She mutters, "I don't know why I was so scared to check in with you. I guess I just didn't want to risk finding out that this wasn't what you wanted after all; not when I'm not ready to let go."

Sapphire feels the kiss that's pressed into her cheek. Perhaps it's inadvertent, just the result of the way Ruby's tilting her head, but even though it's small enough to be passed off as nothing it feels like it was done on purpose. This secret little kiss that Ruby doesn't want her to find out about, but can't resist giving anyway.

In lieu of this conversation, that one action is starting to feel like a metaphor for their entire relationship, Ruby giving something and Sapphire unsure of whether or not she's supposed to even know about it, much less react. It usually ends with nothing new; the only time something changes is when something big happens and Sapphire understands that a responds is not only necessary, but encouraged. The incident with the Supervisor-ruby is case in point. For anything less than that, Sapphire needs a blatant request for action or Ruby has to seek the change herself.

That, Sapphire decides, must change. Today.

She doesn't comment on the little kiss. Instead, she leans back and adjusts her grip on Ruby so that she is no longer clinging to her shoulders for balance, but actually holding her around the waist. Their eyes meet, and Sapphire's uncertainty fades away. This relationship and these feelings are mutual, and it's not fair that she's the only one who knows it. Ruby can't scare her, so it stands to reason that this can't either. If she's a little nervous, that's okay; what's not okay if she doesn't act anyway.

Sapphire doesn't comment on the little kiss that was planted on her cheek. No, instead she just leans in and returns it, right on the lips. "Good, because I'm not ready to let you go either."