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“There you are.”
Cinnabar turns quickly, almost snapping into his new position, locking his eyes on the owner of the voice.
It’s Lapis?… No, it’s Phos. It’s a bit of an uncanny image, to be honest. Lapis’s head, with an eye which glows. Strangely, it still felt like Phos despite the fact that they were a complete amalgamation, puzzle pieces from different boxes that somehow fit together despite all odds.
“What do you want?” Cinnabar grimaces, irritated by the mere fact that someone was near them right now. His expression and stance change into something uninviting, less relaxed.
Phos isn’t phased at all by Cinnabar's behaviour. Instead of whining or making a comment along the lines of “Eesh, so mean…” He simply smiles, inviting himself into Cinnabar's space by stepping a little closer.
“What?” Phos tilts their head, a smile seemingly innocent and sly at once on their face. “Am I not allowed to visit my friend?”
Phos may have lost his memory, but Cinnabar felt no remorse when reminding him “We are not friends.” Their brows furrowed in frustration. So annoying.
“Ouch.” Despite the sarcastic tone in Phos’s voice, their eyes told another story. A slightly pained look took its place in them, forcing a disgusting feeling to swell in Cinnabar's chest, threatening to consume them. It was an empty threat- he did not crumble easily before such emotions. “Well, if you say so.” Phos shrugs, accepting defeat to the surprise of Cinnabar.
However, he’s quick to push said surprise to the side “You didn’t answer my question.”
Phos sighs, shoulders lifting and dropping in an almost dramatic manner. “I was getting to it.” They waved their hand, their expression turning to neutral one. Beautiful, yet void of all emotion. Unpredictable.
“I’m going back to the moon. Come with me.” Phos says blankly as they look into Cinnabar's eyes, seeming confident of themselves.
Their calm manner seems to slowly fade away as the red gem stays silent, looking at him with wide eyes, filled with boundless questions.
“Please.” Phos softly adds to the end of their statement.
Cinnabar's non-stop silence only continues to make him nervous, so he begins speaking to fill up the silence with his own voice in hopes of receiving an answer. “Sensei was created by the humans- humans are creatures that existed in the past.” He clenches one of his fists. “Sensei has a function that is beneficial to the Lunarians, so they wish to use him. But Sensei refuses to work, even though it would cost him nothing… that is why they invade us.”
“Taking care of us seemingly makes Sensei happy, so they want to hurt him to get him to work.” Cinnabar crosses his arms, still silent, but listening. Collecting his thoughts. “If we leave to the moon, just for a little bit… Sensei may be shaken enough and the Lunarians will get what they want. We can stop this, once and for all.”
The intensity in his eyes is nothing but obvious. All he wants is to help his peers.
Phos pauses upon finishing their explanation, but resumes after Cinnabar continues to be silent. “I want you to come with me to the moon.”
Cinnabar makes a nervous expression, stroking his arm with his thumb. “I… I don’t know.” That is all they muster the courage to say, their sentence ending sharply.
Phos’s face goes blank momentarily, their eyes unblinking in this small pocket of time.
“You gain nothing from staying here,” Phos replies, seeming offended…hurt by Cinnabar's answer. “You’re just like me. Nobody on this planet actually cares for us.”
Lair. Cinnabar thought to himself, almost smiling as if the painful thought were some joke he could laugh at. You’re such a bad lair. So Stupid.
“Everyone forgets you.” One step closer “But I didn’t.” Another step “Even after losing my legs, arms, and head I still haven’t forgotten you.” and then another. “So… come with me.” The gem offers its left hand to the other “and you will never be forgotten.”
Although delayed, Cinnabar blushes at the gems’ words, taken aback by such a bold statement. This feeling of otherness in his cheeks, all over his body… he didn’t understand it.
He looks to the side, feeling too nervous to look at Phos directly now“... The poison… I can’t take your hand.” their voice is wobbly, yet void of emotion all at once.
“I’m not scared.” Phos deadpans, pausing to observe the other’s reaction before adding “ You never scared me.” His hand still held out for the red gem to take, not hesitant at all despite being aware of the risk.
This worsened the red gems' blush. Was this pure stupidity or the recklessness of the younger Phos? Either way, I’m not impressed. They think, despite the stains on their cheeks telling of something else.
Hesitantly, Cinnabar reaches out, getting more and more nervous as they got closer, their body brimming with excitement when their bare hand was only centimetres away from Phos’s own… only, they pull their hand back at the last minute and take the time to put their gloves on instead before quickly placing his hand in Phosphophyllites.
The touch of another gem… it’s a sensational feeling. Like sparks flying through every molecule of his body. He doesn’t remember the last time he was touched, even with protection. He doesn’t remember if he was ever touched.
Phos smiles softly, not making a comment. Taking Cinnabar by surprise yet again when he pulls him closer and places their right hand on the other gems upper back. “What are you up to?” Cinnabar lifts a brow, frowning with confusion.
Phos dismisses the question “Place your left hand on my shoulder.” Although still confused, Cinnabar obliges, placing his free hand on Phos’s right shoulder. “Just copy me.”
Slowly Phos begins to take small steps from side to side, and Cinnabar follows, staring at their feet so as to not mess up, quickly adapting and mimicking the other gem's movements. Just when he’s about to look up, Phos starts to slowly turn, adding a whole new step to the movement, which Cinnabar had to adjust to again.
One, Two, Three.
Cinnabar looks up, wanting to ask what exactly it was they were doing, but stopped once their eyes met Phos’s, going quiet all of the sudden.
This gem… this stupid gem…
One. Two. Three.
His new glowing eye was rather mesmerising, now that he thought about it, actually. It looked odd but suited him. Cinnabar had to tilt their head upwards to see, due to Phos’s heels giving him artificial height. It felt so out of place, considering all gems were pretty much the same height.
When Cinnabar thought about it, they kind of missed his old, fully peppermint self. Sure, it was loud and nagging, and it stumbled and fell… but he was always so genuine, you could so easily tell what they were thinking.
Though, this version seemed to be fine, too.
You would probably never catch Cinnabar admitting it, not out loud at least.
One, Two, Three.
This rhythm was actually rather…peaceful. The swaying motion… was very lulling… hypnotic. Cinnabar couldn’t notice the sensation of grass brushing against his ankles anymore. Nor the way that the wind moved his hair so that it would obstruct his view.
All he could feel was the shifting of his legs, and the hold Phos had on his hand and his back. The soft gaze that the other gem gave him. His blue hair, twinkling, like the stars in the sky.
It felt like it was just the two of them that existed, and nothing else actually mattered.
One, Two, Three.
“What is this?” Cinnabar finally, calmly asks.
Phos lets out an awkward, dry laugh. “Honestly… I don’t know. I just saw some Lunarians doing this on the moon and I… I guess I wanted to try it.” He can only give an awkward smile and shrug when Cinnabar gives him a suspicious look. “I think it’s nice.” He hums, seeming relaxed, too.
“I suppose so.” The red gem hesitantly mutters, although they full-heartedly agree. Stumbling slightly when Phos comes to a halt.
“If you come with me to the moon, after all of this is over. We can be partners, forever.” The mix-matched gem promises, dipping his partner and leaving him vulnerable in their arms.
Cinnabar bites their lip, even though the offer sounds tempting… “My poison-”
“I told you, it doesn’t scare me.” Phos interrupts, shaking his head. “But, if you’re concerned about it… the Lunarians, they can suppress your poison on the moon. If that's what you want.”
Cinnabar goes silent again, losing himself in his own thoughts. If they got rid of his poison…
Then, the multi-coloured gem stole them from their thoughts. “And for what it’s worth, I want you around.”
Cinnabar found it so difficult to believe that. But goodness, did he want to so badly. It was as if one part of him was screaming for him to run, run off and hide so that Phos couldn’t find him until they left. The other was begging for Cinnabar to latch on, to latch onto Phos and never let go. Hold on, even if it pushed him away. Two different waves that kept clashing against each other.
“I’ll think about it.” Cinnabar muttered under his breath, avoiding eye contact.
Phos’s smile seemed different this time around, but Cinnabar couldn’t put a finger on it. Did they seem… happier? No?...
“Remember, at night in three days, yeah?” Phos says it in a less composed manner. Excited. Emotional. More true to his past self.
“I didn’t say I would go.” Cinnabar huffs, taking steps backwards so that they could stand up, Phos going back into a standing position along with him, removing his hands from their back.
“Yeah, yeah. Totally.” Phos beams, stepping back to give Cinnbar their space. His cool and charming demeanour seemed to have vanished. Excitement has overtaken his being.
Cinnabar simply rolls his eyes, unamused “Mm.” He blushes for a second time, crossing their arms “Now go away.”
Phos nods and starts to walk away without any resistance or argument, with a goofy smile on his face and a newfound pep in their step. He felt so cheery and light on his feet, striding through the grass as if this were some big achievement. So happy. This is something he would welcome, considering everything that had been happening.
Cinnabar doesn’t know how long he had been watching Phos walk away, but the gem suddenly halts and turns around, leaning forward and cupping his hands around his mouth.
“Shinsha!” Phos calls out.
“You’re going to wake everyone up, idiot!” Cinnabar scolds, their blush growing stronger from the embarrassing thought of being caught together.
Phos dismissed the warning, deciding to say what he wanted to anyway “In Three days!-”
“Yes!” Cinnabar groans, rolling his eyes “Yes, I know! In three days, at night!” Phos stands up straight after hearing that, his hands falling back to his sides. Even though he was far away, Cinnabar could tell that the gem had the most stupid smile on his face. “Now get out of here already!”
He’s pretty sure that Phos just winked at them, happily offering it a wave “Yes, Shinsha! See you soon!”
Cinnabar sucks his teeth, watching as Phos continues to walk into the distance until he’s no longer visible.
The red gem weakly slips into a crouching position, a melting feeling consuming them against their will. Cinnabar hangs his head in defeat, cupping his cheeks as he fought back a smile, an expression he hadn’t made in decades.
God.
What an idiot.