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Cards fanned out before their bicolored eyes like four-suited shields against the prying, almost coy gaze of Lapis Lazuli. From an outside perspective, their game appeared thus—like a game—but what was once a simple challenge evolved to a battle of wits of who could shake who first. Which, much to Euclase’s chagrin, they had found themself to be on the losing end of.
Lapis Lazuli’s cool gaze cleaved through their imperturbable façade like one of Obsidian’s finely crafted swords, and the gem felt as if they had been shattered bare before them. It was as if Lapis Lazuli simply knew—knew of how their leg bounced restlessly beneath the table; knew of how their eyes flicked precariously from a queen, to a seven, to their leveled gaze; knew of how the inclusions on the back of their neck shivered to be beheld by those eyes—by that fierce, calculated, steady concentration. Moreover, how for just a moment, just a moment, Euclase thought they saw them waver; the blink-and-you'll-miss it avert to the opposite wall.
A single sign of weakness that Euclase, had they known, would revel in.
“Oh, come now, Euc. Are you going to make me wait a century?” Lapis Lazuli said, leaning into the palm that cupped their cheek. Their other waved about their last pair of cards pinched between forefinger and thumb. “I’m this close to winning, so just play a card, any card, and let’s call this quits.”
“Not yet.”
Despite their slim chances of victory, their tone did not waver. Euclase scanned eyes across their handful of cards again, searching for a speck of light, and grabbed it in the form of a three. The small halt and scrunch of brows Lapis Lazuli gave to the unexpected card was doubly satisfying; more so than seeing the blue gem reluctantly pluck card after card from the deck until their hand matched that of Euclase’s.
“Honestly,” Lapis Lazuli huffed. “Your determination to win is insufferable. It’s as thick as your eyebrows.”
“It’s you who wanted to play cards,” Euclase said.
“To pass the time, yes,” Lapis Lazuli said. “Not to entertain a complex.”
Those infamous eyebrows scrunched together. “Complex?” Euclase asked, playing a card. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve seen how you stare. How you study others,” Lapis Lazuli said, eyes fluttering up and holding Euclase’s as they slid a card onto the pile.
“I don’t,” Euclase rebuked weakly, pulling their hand away quickly as if Lapis Lazuli was the vilest thing in the word just as they played a queen.
“Oh, but you do,” Lapis Lazuli corrected. Their hand hovered by the pile but did not move. Euclase glowered at it testily. “I’ve seen how you feign control in the presence of other gems.”
“I don’t pretend,” Euclase said. “The younger gems look up to me. I have to be calm and collected.”
“Truly, you’re a model. A picture of dedication and servitude. But I’ve also seen your façade bend.” An amused smile entertained Lapis Lazuli’s features. “Sometimes I wonder when, just when, you will break.”
Euclase harrumphed. “I won’t break,” they returned. “I care for everyone dearly and will protect them no matter what. You describe me as some kind of... like some kind of arrogant nobody, but if that’s how you see me, you’re no different. Aren’t you simply describing yourself? Projecting a bit?"
Lapis Lazuli hummed. “I won’t deny that I am the arrogant sort.” They matched Euclase’s queen with one of their own. “But I am forthright. I make it clear what I do is for intellectual pursuit, not to the benefit of others. Yet you, Euc, you are different. As complex as the complex you entertain.”
Euclase narrowed their eyes. “What are you saying?” they asked. “That I interest you?”
Lapis Lazuli’s smile widened on their face. “You pique my curiosity, yes.” They leaned forward. “I find you very, very interesting.”
Whatever reply Euclase chanced suddenly caught with their breath. They found themself trapped; encircled on all sides by the massive force that was Lapis Lazuli. There was a myriad of times when fascination, starstruck admiring, left them halted in their tracks when the blue gem crossed their path, but to be the center of their being, to be looked upon so strongly, dashed away the impact of those moments entirely.
“I-I...” Euclase began. Their hands suddenly began to tremble, cards fluttering to the tabletop. Euclase knew, then and there, that they had lost. Lost not just the game, but themself as well. “I... I-I think you’re mistaken. There’s nothing... interesting... about me, Lapis. Nothing at all.”
“Quite the contrary,” Lapis Lazuli said, folding their cards down daintily onto the table. They suddenly stood, smoothed a hand behind their long, ultramarine locks, and rounded the table to Euclase’s side. “Even now, I wonder what you’ll do...”
Euclase parted lips to inquire what Lapis Lazuli meant, but a soft touch to their chin guided their head up. Combing a lock behind their ear, Lapis Lazuli closed the distance between them, and captured Euclase in a completely unwarranted kiss. Euclase hummed out a note in surprise as their eyes widened to the whites, but this too was caught as Lapis Lazuli pressed further, further still, until the blue of their everything filled Euclase’s gaze. Where even shutting their eyes and giving in to the heat that burnished across their cheeks and filled their being couldn’t shunt away the image of Lapis Lazuli’s eyes once holding their own.
When Lapis Lazuli pulled away, Euclase was completely dazed. They stared up, gaze hooded and heady, eliciting a chuckle from the blue gem.
“I wonder,” they said as they withdrew from Euclase’s presence with a single step, sliding a finger along their jawline, “if I will be the one to break you. Or will you break before? Really, only time will tell.”
“L-Lapis...”
Lapis Lazuli turned away and gave Euclase a backhand wave. “We can end our card game here,” they said, striding away. “For all intents and purposes, we can say you won, but victory was, without a doubt, mine.”