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to have and to hold
“I’m going to the moon, Cinnabar.”
Cinnabar won’t let the way Phos sneaked up on them surprise them. “What? What are you saying? Didn’t you tell me not to leave for the moon? Why the hell are you going? Did you lose your will to live, Phosphophyllite?
“Did I tell you that…? And it’s quite the opposite. I intend to live.”
Cinnabar strides forward, blazing determination etched into their face as they grab Phos’ hand. Phos pulls back out of reach easily, looking at them with confusion from another face.
"Shut up," Cinnabar says, "Just shut up, and let me be selfish for once."
Phos quizzically tilts their head but acquiesces anyway with a nod. (They always do. Cinnabar always wonders what, exactly made them so worth saving in their eyes when they couldn't even save themselves.)
Timidly, delicately, Phos reaches out their hand. "Cinnabar—"
Roughly, swiftly, Cinnabar grasps it with their own. Mercury is already welling up in their fingerbeds, and it feels warm until it grows uncomfortably hot, and Phos hisses slightly as the initial impact causes some of the gold to drip into the earth.
The gold, however, continues to be drawn to them, moving wherever Cinnabar moves—accepting them as part of their own.
Bitterly, Cinnabar even wishes they'd fuse with this fool for sure because every time they leave, they lose more and more. They forget more and more. At least here, they can protect them…
The gold begins to dissolve once again, and Cinnabar harshly pulls away as Phos tries to mend their arms together back into a human shape.
"I know what you're going to do, you fool. I—why are you even doing this? How much of yourself has even remained? I'm telling you… don't go. People rely on you here."
I rely on you. Because despite everything, I want you to save me.
“Why do you feel the need to go on a suicide mission? There are too many unknown factors, nothing can be predicted—”
"You don't have to worry about that," Phos says softly. "If you accept this from me, that is.” Then they grin cheekily. “But to be fair, who wouldn't accept from a cutie like me!"
Cinnabar almost wants to smile in relief. "You'd be lucky if anyone accepted anything from you, Three-and-a-Half."
"Well, I have to try, right?"
They take out something from their back pocket and open their palms to reveal a silvery ring with phosphophyllite embedded in the middle.
Mercury leaks from Cinnabar's eyes, a relic of what used to be, and they begin to sob despite themselves.
"I promise that I'll come back to you," they vow. "But for now… I will give you a part of me to remember me by. I don't know how accepting your inclusions are, so I had Rutile make a ring that resists your poison… it was hard to get, you know."
Cinnabar can almost hear Rutile's voice, the it's not worth the effort. You shouldn't waste time on this.
But the ring stands outstretched before them, and Cinnabar squashes the thought.
"You fool," they say, their fists clenched at their sides, shaking. "You stupid, stupid fool, I—just give me that."
Phos smiles kindly as always, and moves to slide the ring on Cinnabar's finger, where it glistens in the starlight.
No wonder the Lunarians desired them so much.
"Well? Does it fit?"
It fits perfectly. Cinnabar flexes their fingers. "It's alright."
"I'm glad… it looks good on you, you know."
And Cinnabar looks at them—with their Agate legs and their gilded arms—and wonders, deep in their heart, how much more of themselves will break away? How much more of themselves will they have to sacrifice? For them—
No. No, it's no use thinking about it.
Mercury leaks from their eyes, and yet they grasp the ring so tightly in their palm so that nothing may ever touch it, so that they may never, ever let go.
Phos drops down on one knee and grasps their ring-bearing hand once again. “Cinnabar. By accepting this ring, I’ve found my answer to your problems… there is something only you can do. And that is… being my spouse. You have the option to deny it or not, just in case, especially since you can take no other partners in battle.”
“But I have to ask. Cinnabar, will you marry me?”
“We have nobody to officiate for us? Phos, I don’t think you’re old enough to remember the marriage vows made by—”
“—Don’t worry. I memorized them before coming here. So, yes, or no?”
“...Yes.”
“I, Phosphophyllite, take you, Cinnabar, to be my spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”
“...I, Cinnabar, take you, Phosphophyllite, to be my spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”
“Do you accept?”
“I do.”
“Then, Cinnabar, can I kiss you?”
“No.”
“Cinnabar—”
“I don’t want our faces to get stuck together again.”
“...That’s a fair point.”
Phos begins to giggle, and picks Cinnabar up with their arms before spinning them around. “I’m so happy!”
“Wha—put me down, Phos!”
“No way, no way!”
In the end, Cinnabar’s mercury causes the gold to melt whether they like it or not, and they gracelessly end up in a heap on the ground, Cinnabar’s arm falling off.
“Now look at what you’ve done, Phos. You’re going to have to help me fix this.”
“Why should I? You’re the one that’s so brittle, Cinnabar.”
“We can’t all have mutant inclusions. Plus, you’re my spouse now, so it’s your job to sneak past Rutile.”
“You know what will happen if they catch me! It’s experiment time!”
Cinnabar chuckles weakly. “You’ll live. Plus… I have to ask Rutile for a ring to give you. I can’t do that if she wants to turn me into scrap rock.”
Phos colors, twiddling their fingers. “You’re going to give me a ring… and you’re calling me your spouse…”
Cinnabar smiles, actually smiles, and it takes Phos aback, just how beautiful they are. This is exactly what they’ve fought for, in so long… it almost hurts.
“Someone has to put up with you. So, don't go to the moon, alright?”
⋆
Cinnabar holds a ring of red in their hands, clutching it so tightly they might break.
Jade refuses to look them in the eye. “Phosphophyllite... was taken to the moon.”