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The clock on the nightstand read the early hour of 2:38 in blaring red lights.
Beyond it was the scene of an open window, one that poured in the ever-constant illuminations of the city below in a harsh variety of yellows and reds. The neon lights of many apartment complexes, night clubs, and industries working late at night glowed with a vibrant intensity of a living machine, functioning in the odd harmony like that of a mechanical monster. This collection of steel buildings and brick structures destroyed the night sky, turning whatever black and twinkling stars left present a mosaic of artificial luminescence. The thick mask of light pollution, however, did not stop a figure from standing out on the balcony that jutted out from the apartment bedroom, slender figure leaning against the rusted railing for safety, and her head tipped up to stare at the damaged nighttime sky.
She rested her head in an open palm, the other appendage being left to dangle off the oxidized surface in slow swinging arcs; her unoccupied hand stirred the cool air almost absent-mindedly as if it were water, and she was weightless in its presence. It was a strange thought, silly in its own right, but the blue skinned gem was past the point of coherent ideas and realistic facts in her stupor of inconceivable exhaustion. It was evident in the way she swayed ever so slightly against the tarnished metal railing, and how she shook her head to keep herself conscious of where she was. A nasty fall from this height was something Lapis truly did not want to experience, even if she did possess a natural ability of flight, for the ocean gem was not sure if she could truly rely on her dulled senses. From what she saw, cars looked like surreal fish drifting along an invisible tide instead of noisy cars racing down a broken asphalt road.
Dropping her translucent blue eyes to her dangling hand, she lifted it up and towards her face, using a delicate finger to pull back a snarl of cobalt hair that had been pushed into view by a sudden gush of chilling wind. The delicate movement caused a flash of light to flicker off of the band on her ring finger, and the sharp glint drew the ocean gem’s attention onto the simple, ornate band of crafted silver and small white diamond socketed in the very center. It was beautiful in a way, and the sight of the polished jeweled object ignited the gentlest of smiles to pull at her lips; engaged. Even if she did not fully understand the custom, the thought that it had been presented to her gave Lapis a sense of belonging and trust. Something she had not felt in hundreds of years. Seeing the engagement ring prompted her to run the pad of an index finger over its smooth, and now cold, surface, deft digits fiddling with the silver object in an outburst of boredom. Her murky cerulean orbs narrowed in tiredness and passive content.
“Lapis, what are you doing out here?” The sudden voice startled the ocean gem in question, and she reacted by jerking her head to glance over her shoulder at the source of the voice; a small smile lifted the corners of her mouth upwards.
“Peridot! You surprised me. I… didn’t really hear you…” Her tone was quiet, a manifestation of revelation and fatigue, and the softness of her words failed to be lost to the flaxen haired gem standing in the doorway behind her. The technician’s arms were crossed over her chest, buried in the dark fabric of a thick hoodie as she stared at Lapis with an emotionless look of unease. It was a few seconds of listening to the insidious sounds of pulsating music and rampaging cars spanning across the cityscape below before she opened her mouth to respond.
“You didn’t answer my question, Lapis,” she announced once more as she dropped her arms to her sides and fixed her with a heavy stare, one that was scolding yet thoughtful. “What are you doing outside? It’s cold.” The cobalt haired gem only averted her gaze, teeth working on her bottom lip as she turned to fully face Peridot, her posture stiff yet fragile against the gently blowing breeze as if she might get knocked over by the invisible force.
“I just… you know, couldn’t sleep.” The hard gaze that was pinned on her softened, but for only a moment as the green skinned gem regained her cantankerous composure and willed her body to close the distance between them. It was no secret that Lapis suffered from insomnia, but some nights were harder than others; this such night was one of them. Peridot ran her detached digits through her messy unkempt hair when she stopped in front of her, and, with her free one, reached out towards the other.
“Let me see,” the technician commanded. It wasn’t a simple question, but a demand, one that Lapis could not argue against as cold fingers cupped the side of her round face and a pair of lime green eyes locked onto hers with a penetrating stare. Gently, Peridot rubbed a digit underneath one of her cerulean eyes, and scowled at the sight of what damage had been done from one too many restless nights.
The ocean gem’s orbs were bleary and dull, the neon color of her once vibrant irises framed by a reflective film of glass. Sickly swatches of dark blue bloomed around the flesh of her eyes, a proper display of the severe lethargy that plagued her like a nightly curse, and whatever clarity seemed to be left in her weak gaze was clouded over by a lack of sleep. Shards of broken moonlight left fractured slivers of light against Lapis’ face, and if Peridot had assumed any better, she would have thought her lips were dipped in ink and dusted in the pale glow of the moon. It took her a pregnant pause to push down the overwhelming urge to press her own against the ocean gem’s mouth, and she shook her head to clear herself of the idea to try and focus on the problem at hand.
What can I do to make her stop functioning on three hours of sleep a week and damn the stars, why does she look so damn beautiful in the moonlight?
The flaxen haired gem clenched her jaw to keep the spark of emotion from penetrating her well-constructed mask and instead cleared her throat to prevent it from tightening any further. “By the stars, Lapis, why do you keep doing this to yourself? Insomnia can be just as well caused by anxiety and stress, but…” She broke off her words to cast a serious look into her tired eyes, both hands slowly lifting up to grab at her slender shoulders, “why are you so anxious? What’s going on?” The ocean gem averted her gaze ever so slightly at Peridot’s gentle yet firm inquiring, and a strained silence fell over the couple.
They were enveloped by the metropolitan ambiance of honking horns and pulsating rave music from the sweeping expanse that was Beach City. Around them, a cold wind proceeded to pick up, ruffling the stiff strands of Peridot’s flaxen hair, and toying with the thin white fabric of Lapis’ loose tank top and black sleep shorts. The rustling of the gentle breeze filled in the gaps of where their words failed, and remained that way until the ocean gem finally spoke up; her voice came out thin and airy compared to the flushed howl of the delicate gust.
“You… you just won’t understand…” She rubbed the side of her face with a bare arm as if she was almost guilty of her words. Her short, careless response, however, struck a nerve within the technician who responded by tightening her hands around the ocean gem’s slender shoulders. With her lime green eyes narrowed in irritation and her fangs bared in the beginnings of a snarl, Peridot pulled her close enough to the point where the tips of their noses were almost brushing against each other. She fixed her with a glowering look, bright eyes concealed behind a pair of reflective glasses vehemently connecting Lapis’ own dull orbs of cerulean. When she spoke, her cold, sterile breath fanned across her round face.
“Don’t you ever say that to me, Lazuli, not now! You can’t say I don’t understand anything, because I know you so much better than any random clod you may acknowledge as a ‘friend’ will ever comprehend. You cannot tell me such a thing; we’re engaged Lapis, remember?” She tried, her voice dropping to take a softer tone in an attempt to persuade her from being so stubborn as to closing herself off again; it had taken years for them to get this far, and she wasn’t going to lose all the progress she had painfully established right then and there. “You have to trust me.” The ocean gem swayed ever so slightly in her wavering grasp, hands tightening at her sides, before Peridot hesitantly reached down to grab at the one that displayed the ornate band of silver.
She could feel her almost shudder at the tenderness of the touch, and it brought an almost inexistent smirk to the technician’s face as she lifted their clasped hands up in an effort to make a point. With their fingers intertwined, Lapis’ soft ones conforming to fit Peridot’s stiff, unbending ones, the water gem could easily make out the glint of the ring in the shattered moonlight. She glanced up, soft planes of white light draping across her blue skin and sparking a look in her glassy orbs that made the flaxen haired gem’s breath hitch in her throat. The emotion disguised in her murky eyes was one that Peridot desperately needed to see; trust. Her hand tightened around her own detached digits.
“I-I’m sorry, it’s just… nightmares. Memories. Incarceration and confinement surrounded by glass. I didn’t want to tell you because I just don’t want you to worry about it.” Lapis’ hooded gaze was lifted to meet the green gem’s one in a mix of exhaustion and fear - the fear of repeating the same events over and over again in a verbal covenant. It was concerning for Peridot to know she was still caught up over the trauma, over the long years trapped in a small space of confinement with nothing but herself to stare at as it likely drove her insane with loneliness, and she clenched the blue haired gem’s hand harder in a stiff act of comfort. It wasn’t a surprise that she was anxious about those specific nightmares, the ones that forced her to relive the past, but Peridot had made an agreement to stay with her through it; the band around her finger proved such a lengthy commitment.
“Is that all?” Lapis shook her head in response to her question. “I don’t usually hallucinate them that often. Sometimes it’s just nerves getting to me, but since you’ve been gone at night recently, I can’t sleep. There’s no- “
“Reassurance?” The green skinned gem filled in the word for her, and she only gave her a tired, broken smile that failed to reach her eyes. The action tugged at something in Peridot’s heart at the realization that she was becoming a source of her stress, and thus her incurable insomnia. It hurt to acknowledge that, but she prevented the look of pain from reaching her lime green eyes by drawing a free hand towards her round face and grabbing at her chin. Using a thumb to stroke the bottom of her lip, she paused for just a second to study her moonlit features before finally closing the distance.
The well needed kiss they shared was light and chaste, and though the technician was uncomfortable (and sometimes incapable) of showing gestures of affection, she couldn’t help but reach behind the ocean gem’s back and brush a few of her unbending digits across the smooth surface of her gem. She traced the contours of its surface, marveling at how the once fractured, splintery teardrop shaped jewel now felt perfectly whole in her hand, and smirked at the shudder that passed through Lapis’ thin frame. There was a sharp intake of unnecessary air as Lapis broke the kiss to steady herself, her mind reeling in reaction to the intimate act that was passing between them, but before she could say anything to stop Peridot, two hands snaked their way underneath her tank top and up her sides.
“Peridot!” She cried out in surprise as she felt cylindrical digits hook around the folds of her black gills, three on each side that lined her ribs in symmetrical order, and pull her closer. A smirk had bloomed across the technician’s narrow face, something that crinkled the corners of her eyes in a genuine expression of elation.
“Don’t tell me you don’t want this, Lapis. I thought my presence was what you wanted right now.” She whispered into her ear, and the ocean gem couldn’t help but let a quiet laugh escape her lips at the fact that she was correct. Completely and utterly correct. It was a sound that Peridot thought she would never have heard again.
“Yes, but,” Lapis pulled away from her grasp, cobalt snarls of hair flowing around her in the cool night air as she danced around Peridot’s lanky, tall form and into the bedroom that they had both forgotten about, “to be there so I can sleep, okay?” The smile on her face told her that she was more or less back to her teasing self despite the air of delusional tiredness that followed her, but Peridot could care less about it as long as she seemed happy. It was enough, and as she followed her into their shared bedroom, hands shoved into the pockets of her dark hoodie and her glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose, she truly knew what it felt like to love someone.
Awaiting them on the nightstand was the blaring numbers of 3:15, but at that moment, it didn’t matter if it was early in the morning or late at night. As long as she was there, watching over her to ensure her a necessary comfort and someone to drive away the bad nightmares that clung to her mind like cobwebs, Peridot would take any time to prove what worth she was to her.
Even if it meant staying up to guard a finally sleeping insomniac.