Reggie? Well, since your here and all when I clearly told you to stay back in case something bad happened, please kill me now so that I don't end up doing it myself by making more stupid choices. Thank you!
Welp, this wasn't good. On the bright side, Bloodstone seemed to have bought into her trick. If it had been anyone else, she might've felt like a hypocrite for being dishonest when she chastised him earlier for , but hell, it was him who tried to lie to her earlier, so this was simply getting even in her mind. Besides, it seemed like the best way to get her message across. Whatever Bloodstone said, she doubted he'd have taken kindly to simply walking up to the newborn and informing her about both sides of the story. Or rather, the three sides. The younger gem was clearly spooked by her actions, but hopefully she'd pick up her message disguised as simple statements. The rock falling as a distraction was risky, she knew that, but she didn't want Reggie to serve as the distraction instead, nor did she want to risk trying to make such contact with the young gem with Bloodstone watching.
On the other end, however, Evenkite suddenly felt not only tired and drained, but also light headed. Both of them were well in the open, and as far as she could tell, Reggie didn't try to find Amber or Sodalite, so if something bad happened, she would have to depend on him to get them both -or, if Melanite joined them for some forsaken reason, rather, all- out of this mess. And she doubted he would be capable of that.
For a brief moment, she felt more than light headed. Everything went fuzzy and the world seemed to tilt at an impossible angle. Shapes and colours blended into nonsensical patterns and she wasn't sure who was who, what was what, and where was where. It seemed to take every ounce of concentration in her not not fall flat on her face in her stupor, but somehow she managed, her only sign of weakness being a slight wince.
Damn it, did he notice?
Maybe, maybe not.Fake it. You've been doing that so far and Bloodstone hasn't caught on. Push your luck. Try to cover it up.
Thus she tried to disguise this moment of weakness as a long blink, hoping that he hadn't noticed. Before she opening her eyes, she heard Reggie call her an 'imp'. Imp. How she loathed being called an imp. Elf was bad enough. And Bloodstone's laughter made her want to curl up in her hole and die. Under normal circumstances, she'd have probably snapped, but she felt too woozy to do so, and instead concentrated her energy into made a grimace.
And now it seems even more believable than a blink. See Eve? Maybe this can work out. Keep on going. Play along with it.
"Yellow. Gem. Please call me Yellow Gem." Her face was flushed a yellow-green out of both embarrassment and anger, but other than this there was no sign that she felt this way, keeping her voice as composed as possible. Not because she wanted to hide her anger. No, she'd have been more than happy to let them know she was pissed. It was because she was scared of revealing the sudden weakness she felt if she didn't keep her composure. She felt herself growing dizzy once more but succeeded in not revealing it. Yes, her very sudden and awkward stillness was probably a red flag that something was off, but still, better than to show weakness in front of this much more dangerous gem.
Good to know that you can't use your powers if anything bad happens now without passing out or something. Way to go, Eve!
Blinking -for real this time-, she stepped away from Reggie -and by extension, Bloodstone- her eyes went from the commander from Homeworld to the newborn gem. She remained silent until the little gem gave her name away. Not because she had nothing to say, but because again, her vision was going weird and she didn't want to betray the weakness in her voice.
"Hello there, Melanite," Evenkite said, her voice strangely cracked at first but quickly changing into a tone much softer than her usual one, the same sort of tone she remembered Green Gem using with her when she had been found.
Eve, they probably noticed that. Idiot. You should've waited longer before speaking, it wouldn't have killed you!
"I'm glad to see you're alright, young one." She offered a small and -wait, was that...weak?- smile to the newborn gem, but did not try to approach her any closer, knowing that she was probably already spooked enough as was.
Eve, you're slipping up. Damn it, try harder, or they're going to see right through you, assuming they already haven't!
And so came poor choice number four of the day: Deciding to cover up any weakness they might have perceived by using her powers further, which would hopefully make Bloodstone and Chromite have their doubts as to whether they imagined it or not. She floated up to the newborn and nearly immediately did she regret it as a strange burning sensation began to flow through her, ever so close to crying out in the sudden pain. It wasn't incredibly strong, but it hurt enough.
Conceal it. Don't let them know.
Clenching her teeth, she tried to hide her pain, and continued to feign her cool composure. Apparently having ignored Bloodstone, she continued to address the young gem.
"I really am sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare or harm you," she continued, patting Melanite on the head and giving her hair a gentle ruffle.
Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow o get back down get back down get bac-no. No. They'll notice. Endure it.
"This is my...Companion, I guess you could say, Reggie, as he already introduced himself. He's what we call a human being, as Bloodstone here, -who, yes, is a bit of a dick, in vulgar terms, but he's a well-meaning dick in his own way- has kindly informed you of. They're the dominant species on Earth, the planet you, Reggie, and I were born on. Bloodstone comes from a place known as Homeworld, where most gems are made. Which is what we are called. The two of us are different as we come from Kindergarten, the purple canyon we're in right now. There's more of us; perhaps you'll meet them later. We're both new to Chromite, but nice to meet you nonetheless, ma'am," she paused, giving a small nod of her head towards the knight-like gem, "And I've already introduced myself."
She then turned around to Bloodstone, finally landing back on the floor -she doubted Bloodstone would take kindly to her floating above his head anyways, so there was her excuse to do so- and addressing him. And as she did so, she noticed a tiny spec of blue in the distance.
Sodalite?
Bless. Bless you, Sodalite.
Was this her vision playing tricks on her again? Did Reggie somehow manage to find her in that short time? How fast were humans? Had she been following them this whole time?
Don't stare, you'll give away her presence. You'll find out soon enough. If anything happens, she can probably ward them away with her ungodly racket made by clanging weapons together. She couldn't help but give a choked laugh of relief, quiet and cracked. She quickly changed into into a dry and humourless one.
"We have started off on the wrong foot, Bloodstone, but, and I mean no offense, it's hardly my fault that I have trouble trusting you who so blatantly lied to me upon first meeting."
There was message number one to Melatine, disguised as her usual irritation towards Bloodstone's actions: He may not be telling the truth, he lied to me on first our meeting, and there's nothing saying he hasn't done the same to you. Would she pick it up? She was a newborn, there was no guarantee. But she clearly realised that the contact from earlier was meant to serve as a warning, given her more frightened demeanour, so she hoped so. If worst came to worst, she was probably going to screw herself over anyways and let everything spill without filter.
"And even so, if I were to come to Homeworld with you, and I decide that it's not what I want, I can no longer remain neutral. You yourself said that the moment I leave you, the moment I become an enemy. And I do not want your enmity, nor do I want your alliance, as tempting as it is since you know so much more than Aquamarine."
Message number two and three: She wasn't taking sides, and that said other side was lead by a less knowledgable gem, Aquamarine
"Then again, Aquamarine has been a lot kinder to the rest of us than you, which is probably why they chose her instead , not with the spider bots driving us out of our home, or the laser you fired sending me flying to skies knows where. If it weren't for my orange friend catching me, I'm sure my gem would've cracked or even shattered from the impact of the land. "
Message four, five, and six: Aquamarine may not know as much but she'd been kind. To the rest of us, meaning that the majority of the gems she'd mentioned earlier were with her now. Finally, the message that he didn't have much of a clean record.
Evenkite returned the sad smile. Or rather, pained smile, but the burning sensation was beginning to warp the sense of her actions, and she didn't even realise that it had slipped. She let out a strange laugh. It wasn't a laugh of humour. Not a dry laugh or a mocking laugh or anything of the sort. No, this was the sort of laugh you gave when you're too distraught with something that as a defense mechanism, you simply laugh. In this case, said something was the burning sensation. It was getting worse and worse, and now she stumbled slightly due to her light head, holding onto Reggie's legs for support, before seeming to come back somewhat to her senses.
No way did they not notice that, Eve. You've screwed yourself. Serves you right. Should've just minded your own business, let the new gem be swayed by Bloodstone. You've probably scared her now and the message probably didn't even get through. Good fucking job. Hell, why did you try so hard to make it seem like you weren't about to pass out? Because now you probably are going to no matter what you do.
"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what that was, Bloodstone sir, Reggie sir, Chromite ma'ahahahaha-", she tried to say only to cut back into the strange laughing fit from before, now wobbling slightly as she let go of his leg. A few moments passed before she composed herself. "Chromite, ma'am, forgive me for that. Anyways, perhaps I'll join you later, perhaps not, Bloodstone sir, but as of now consider me out. I do have a question, if you care to answer: Why haven't you sent out the spider bots like when the others arrived? Why are you suddenly being so kind to this gem while you were so hostile towards the rest of us? And this, this has been bugging me ever since I found you with Melanite; why didn't you arrive when I emerged, but did for the others? At first-" a sudden pause as her vision blurred again, too weak now to even bother hiding it. She clinged onto Reggie's leg once more, mentally degrading herself for her reckless actions, "At first I thought it was because it was because one gem alone wasn't worth the trouble going after, especially not a pitifully small thing like me, but now that you appeared before this newbor-ahahahaow ow ow owahahahahAHAHAHA..."
Yup, you've fucking lost it now.
Everything was going blurry again, and unlike before, it didn't seem to be clearing up. Was she still standing? She wasn't sure. Probably not. She was probably having a fit on the floor and scaring the short life our of the newborn gem. Reggie and Bloodstone were probably either laughing or were disturbed. She didn't know about Chromite. Eventually the colours began to fade altogether at it went black, a distant memory surfacing in place of the reality that should've been before her. For a few moments, she was back in her hole, her head leaned against the side of the older green gem who promised would return for her. Her features were clearer than anything she had seen after dropping the boulder earlier. The green skin, flat messy hair, rounded angular eyes, the weird fuzzy sweater she wore that covered her jagged arms, which reminded her more of something insectoid than humanoid. But more than anything, she remember the voice, vivid detail.
"Delicate thing, evenkite is, just like my gemstone, talc. A drop that would barely put a scratch on another gem could shatter ours, so promise you'll always be careful when I'm gone, alright? I don't know how long it's been since the war, and there could still be some more dangerous gems around who may try to hurt you."
She then heard herself speak. No, not herself, the memory of her self.
"Hurt me? War? Leave? W-"
Careful, huh? She knew she played it safe before. Never dared to even leave her hole until the whole fiasco happened, and even then she was cautious. But the sudden resurfacing of her power and the encouraging words of Aquamarine had made her grow overconfident. More than that, reckless. She overestimated her abilities and she should've known better, and now it was biting her back. Being careful?
"Whoops, sort of screwed that one up, Talc. So much for caaaaarahahaful..." That was herself this time. Except she realised she wasn't lost in the memory, she was back to where she was, the colours and shapes now cleared up and the burning sensation somewhat dulled. She was somehow still standing after all. And she had said that last bit aloud.
They think you're crazy now. To be fair, I think you're crazy now, too.
