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The arm is gone.
So is an eye and half their leg but they can see the arm dangling in the wind through the small slats of the golden box Phos metastasized. They can feel dozens of liquid hands cling to their body, so tight it hurts. They can hear Phos sobbing somewhere behind them, but they can't move to turn their head and look at Phos instead.
“Everything's fine.” They get out shakily, even though it isn't, it really isn't, no part of this is okay and when Sensei gets here, they're both sure to be scolded and Antarcticite doesn't even want to think about that yet. “So stop crying.” Gold sloshed into their mouth, a finger or two that solidify and scrape against the rock there.
That's fine. They'll be quiet too.
The Lunarians come and go, tapping on the golden box while Phosphophylite's entire head gets dunked under the golden sea to keep from sobbing loud enough that anyone can hear. A few of them stare inside, but it's dark. The hands clinging to Antarc cling even harder and they can feel their body start to fracture under the pressure.
And then they're gone, with Antarc's arm and eye and half a leg.
Phosphophylite's gold puts so much pressure onto their body that it fractures internally, their inclusions working over time to keep them in one piece. The fingers in their mouth melt and solidify and melt again, liquid metal dripping down into their broken body.
Everything hurts.
It could be worse they think, they could be in pieces, they could be on the moon, they could have left Phos alone, they could have left Sensei alone.
Almost drowning in gold is better than that.
Sensei does eventually come and find them, trying to coax Phos out of their sobbing so that the gold would finally release.
They only manage it when the day rolls into night and Phos is too exhausted to keep hold of anything anymore. Sensei carries them both back in his arms, Antarc's face shoved into the soft fabric of Sensei's robes and Phos asleep beside them. They try not to dwell on how sad Sensei looks.
A stressful day, horrifying in a way that things haven't been in centuries.
The gold still clings to them.
Not Phos' new arms, no, though they seem to have a mind of their own from time to time, at least that's what Phos claims. They've calmed down, matured maybe, in a way that Antarc would never wish on them, on anyone, but they're not above the occasionally joke or tease.
Their own gold.
An arm, an eye, half a leg.
It's not like Phos', the three of them realize. It doesn't sit in their body, not really, because their body isn't as consistent as their partners, though the gold that slipped inside of them almost seems free floating. They can move it still, but they can also take it off, put it aside. Not really a replacement, not in any way that matters, but they didn't have any material to help along the natural growth. The gold barely takes, is why. Antarcticite wished it was more like their partner's.
“It's not bad.” Phos tells them while they're out in the ice floes four days later. “I can find you easier. You don't blend in as much anymore.”
“They're garish.” They shoot back. “Just like you are.”
And even though Phos is a few floes away, their creepy hand reaches all the way over and presses a finger to Antarc's nose.
“You like it though.”
Their chest flutters lightly, and they push the gold away with their own.
“I just called it garish.”
“Why is my partner so mean?” Phos whines and Antarc turns their head to hide the smile on their face. “Antarc, why does my partner bully me all the time?"
“Because you'll never learn otherwise.” And Antarc sets off, crashing their sword down on the ice while Phos makes those noises of theirs. That makes the job easier, oddly. Phos doesn't whine about how tired they are either, they've not done that in a while. They stand tall, oddly taller than they have were, almost surpassing Antarc now. They wonder if they'll grow big enough to surpass Sensei and then even as it starts snowing their face becomes unbelievably warm think about Phos picking them up.
On the forty first day they patrol along the north beach and Phos stares out into the ice for a long time.
On the fifty third they patrol it again, and this time Phos takes Antarc's hand in theirs and skate along the ice with the gold of their heels. It's a bit perilous and they're embarrassed to admit they clung to the back of Phos' uniform but they make it to the edge of the ice eventually. The water laps at their shoes and the world is quiet.
And then its spring.
“Be good.” They tell them, gold nudging against gold. “Don't cause trouble.”
“Impossible.” Phos sighs, sitting on the ground beside their tub. “It's the only thing I'm good at.”
“That much is true.” Antarc nods sagely and Phos whines again. “Take care of my gold for me.”
“I promise.” It's laying on the rim, shiny but polished down smooth, finally. They're quiet, but Antarc can hear the other gems start to wake up on the other end of the school. “You'll be my partner again right? When winter comes again?”
“Of course I will.” Who else is going to do it. “I'm going to start-” They don't even get to finish the sentence before their arm starts dripping. “Get out, it's embarrassing.”
“It's cool.” Phos says but stands up anyway. “Don't make me wait too long.”
“Just for that I'm going to sleep in for a week.” There goes their shoulder, their hair, their remaining eye.
Phos laughs and the sound brings back that lightness in their chest. Gold drips out of them, into the liquid that's up to their ankles now, their knees, their thighs.
"Pretty." They whisper, staring down where the gold and the white mingle together.
They're glad their face melted off already.
Phosphophylite would have teased them mercilessly for how they blushed in the moment.