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A soft wind blew the crimson red bangs out of Cinnabar's face as two figures, one with pink hair and the other grey, ran past them, only to stop and turn around towards the brunette.
"Oh, Cinnabar. You're there," said Morganite, a meek smile on their face. Goshenite had one hand on their hip as they eyed Cinnabar who was sitting in the grass, some pieces of grass stuck on their hair.
"Sensei called for you."
"Huh?"
"Heh, it's probably a new job offer or something. You might wanna check that out, laters." Goshenite waved at Cinnabar, before continuing to run across the field, leaving Cinnabar to their own thoughts.
The mercury all around them shone silver in the almost blinding sunlight, moving according to their emotions.
Right now, Cinnabar is excited.
"At long last, I have a job for you. And that job is to make this boring ass encyclopedia or whatever you call it. I don't even know half of what's going on! How the heck am I supposed to write an ENCYCLEPOD??!"
"Yes..." Neptunite said, tone flatter than their chest.
Cinnabar huffed, finally seeming like they'd finish their hour long rant. "Now, Nepti-kun, I do believe your room is right next to Phos'?"
The purple haired gem buried their face into their hands. "We're one hour in and you choose to ask that just now. Imagine how much time I could've saved. I have a life to live, you now."
"Aren't we immortal? You have all the time in the world." Cinnabar deadpanned.
"Yes, but I also have places to go."
Clicking their tongue, Cinnabar scoffed. "Whatever, whatever. Just show me to Phos."
"Well, I didn't know I was your personal servant."
Phos' room was nothing like what Cinnabar had ever expected. The whole place was covered in... gold liquid? They flashed a look at their mercury, which floated close towards them, then back at the liquid in Phos' room.
"That one can't control the alloy, you know."
"What do you mean?" Cinnabar raised an eyebrow.
Neptunite sighed. "Well, you know how you used to lose control over your mercury and end up poisoning all the greenery?"
"And what about that?"
The purple gem shook their head. "This is like that, but instead of mercury, it's gold alloy. Phos tends to lose control."
"Wasn't... Actually, nevermind."
"Spit it out, now that you've started."
"Uhm. I just thought that... didn't everyone used to talk about how good a fighter Phos is? Or was?"
Neptunite paused.
"Yeah. They were a good fighter. But after losing Antarc, that all changed."
"Antarc..."
"Phos kept blaming themselves for the loss of Antarc. As a result they have become mentally unstable. I suggest you don't go near them, but if there's anyone who would know about the life here, it would be them."
"Were they that lonely, spending all that time alone that they just know everything from watching them out of pure boredom?"
"Perhaps. Maybe all those winter patrols weren't for nothing."
The first time Cinnabar met Phos, was with the latter's back turned towards them.
Mint-green hair. Golden arms. Striped legs. This has gotta be the all too infamous Phosphophyllite-senpai Cinnabar had heard of. But never actually met, until just now, that is.
"I know you're there."
"Meep."
Cinnabar almost jumped from the sudden callout, and stood up from their crouching position.
"Cinnabar, right? I've heard all about you. What do you want?"
The red gem took a few steps closer, admiring how the wind blew Phos' hair, and the way it looked almost magical. They clutched the clipboard in their hand.
"Actually, I was wondering if..."
Neptunite's words echoed in Cinnabar's mind.
"...if you feel lonely, being all alone like this."
Phos seemed startled at this, and Cinnabar could see the older gem slowly turn their head towards them. "What do you mean?"
The mercury floating around Cinnabar had started to slowly lose control. Their shapes started becoming random, but Cinnabar kept everything together. They didn't want to poison all the grass and flowers and little creatures again.
They gingerly set down the clipboard in their hands on the dewy grass, before walking towards Phos and stopping when they were right next to the mint green gem.
"Aren't you scared of me?" said Phos, voice lowering down a bit. Cinnabar simply shook their head.
"No, senpai. It's okay. I understand what it feels like, when everyone else is scared of you. But I'm not. I understand how it feels... to... to be feared."
Phos looked down at their alloy hands. Memories of stabbing their fellow gems with sharp, out-of-control golden alloy hit them like a wave.
"Cinnabar... I—"
"Actually, now that I'm here, can I ask you something?"
"S-sure, what is it?"
Cinnabar mentally prepared themself, before letting out all the questions they had about the species inhabiting this small, small island they were on. The first, but not actual reason they came to visit Phos.
The older gem held back their tongue from what they originally wanted to say, and patiently listened to every single one of the younger's questions while giving clear and easy to understand answers.
"How did talking to Phos go?" Padparadscha asked with a quizzical look, one arm over their eyes as they laid on the infirmary floor.
"Great! They were a surprisingly good listener. I was flabbergasted." Cinnabar looked down at the pages full of scribbling and writing thanks to Phos' very, very informative infodumps, as per Cinnabar's request.
They looked over at the wooden box right next to Padparadscha, and the line of gems skillfully shaped so that it would fit holes in a torso.
"You're sleeping already? Usually you'd still be up and about, working on Rutile."
Padparadscha let out a soft sigh. "Yeah, well, I've been so tired these past few days, what with the constant accidents here and there." They paused to yawn. "If you need me, just wake me up."
"Okay. Goodnight, senpai."
"Mhm."
A warm smile found itself onto Cinnabar's face as they looked down at the clipboard once again.