yeah, this plan stinks.

@pearlfectionate is visiting me for a week and i’m not sure how active that’ll make me, so i expect some delays in replies. 

@pearlfectionate @quartzish

“CHRISTMAS!”

He jumps onto Pearl and Amethyst’s bed.

“SANTA CAME!”

“You got a teddy bear too?!” It may not be the most customized gift, but Amethyst was hoping the weird, magically delivered bear was hers alone. Well, her and Pearl, since Amethyst already opened Pearl’s to see if it was better her own.

If I don’t reply or I take ages to:

It’s drafted

My mood doesn’t fit

I’m trying to equal your perfection

I’m brain-dead

I lost the reply

I’m easily distracted by something else

@quartzish found a trash boy

Lemongrab was slowly coming to the realization that no one here was going to serve him. It was utter nonsense. He was the Earl and he deserved to be treated as such!! But no!! He had to find his own way, his own food! 

The  people in the city actually kept free food in cans outside of their houses. Free food, just sitting in cans and bags for anyone to take. This was the first positive thing Lemongrab had found in The Hive. One person’s trash was a lemon man’s dinner.

The Earl proceeded to kick over garbage cans all around the city and dig through them like a sewer rat. Most people who noticed him were much too unsettled to say anything, much less try and stop him. “Mmm…ACCEPTABLE..” He mumbled to himself as he chewed on a half-eaten burger.

Seeing someone hunched over a trash can is odd, even in Hive City, but seeing someone other than her munching on garbage---that was cause for investigation.

"Aw, ewww!” Almost as soon as she approached the scene, Amethyst pulls her hands to her chest and draws out her vowels to emphasise her disgust. “There aren’t any pickles on that burger!”

Despite the standoffish vibe she gets from the lemon-headed person, she inches forward, moving until she is on the opposite side of the trashcan as them. While standing there, she casts a quick glance at the trash strewn around and forgotten in the wake of hunger, and underneath a plastic film she sees the corner of a pickle.

With an unnecessary flourish to her movements, Amethyst leans over the metal bin and plucks the plastic wrapper and the two pickles that were under it. Her eyes are bright as she offers her haul to the stranger.

Willow abruptly beams. “Girl Scouts of 1922, so I take it you, sorta know the time?” It’s nice, even the concept that someone can remember something like she does. Not the same, most likely, but still!

She goes at what’s nearly a light jog, trying not to grumble when she’s launched around corners. 

“Wizard, eh?” Amethyst gets a raised eyebrow in response, followed by some half-assed finger guns as she walks in. “What size are we talkin’ about?” She can recall one place, one that had sold slices about as big as her head. 

“Huh. I wouldn’t of pinned you as a 20′s member.” She casts a glance at Willow while following her into the pizzaria, her lips pursed as she considers the tidbit she’s learned. “I can see it though.” 

It seems fair to say that Willow is one of the most intriguing people Amethyst has met in Hive City so far---she wouldn’t mind sharing stories over a delicious pizza.

// That proverb about trash and treasure held up well in practice; with gleaming eyes, the Drifter was known for hoarding off busted motherboards and other discarded scrap metal. Sometimes it was nice to pick up the uncommon cover-stripped book or rare spaghetti-tape cassette, but he was primarily here to find parts to tinker with. Still, sometimes they could get carried away. With a natural inclination to wander, the Drifter ended up underneath a partial cave of garbage.

To save his thinly-gloved hands from tetanus, the Drifter’s ever-helpful robot would scan partial chunks of garbage and detect salvageable parts. It had chirped brightly to alert its user of such a site, but it seemed that it had caught the ears of a fellow scrapper. And she didn’t sound happy about it.

“Oh–” the Drifter says in response, just as surprised as Amethyst is. She’s, purple. But clearly human(like?) other than that. What. “Ummm.” They decide to send their robot slowly floating through the cracked window, hoping she wouldn’t just grab the bot and run. The Drifter makes it repeat the chirp from earlier, then project a holographic screen to the side. Words load in slowly so as not to startle her any further.

                                                             ﹁

         Hello? I don’t mean any harm.      I’m Drifter; not a rat. What are you   looking for? We could help each other.

﹂

When the robot makes its way through the window, Amethyst’s first reaction is to step back, itching to grab a blunt object. It takes real willpower to wait before doing anything rash, simply watching with narrowed eyes as a hologram appears in front of her. 

As soon as she finishes reading the message, she audibly exhales.

“...okay, for some reason, I believe you.” True, the two beings haven’t given her cause to doubt them, but it was good to mention her initial skepticism. “I’m Amethyst.”

“So, Drifter, whatch’a know about stop motion media?” she scratches her head. “I’m having trouble finding anything cool to use in this project for sculpting class, so I ended up grabbing a broken flowerpot and some barbed wire.” 

     @quartzish // sc.

        “ oh, god! that’s - that can’t be good! ” by no means was he familiar with human health, but from what he remembered - watching humans choke on neurotoxin - being purple wasn’t a healthy. “ i’ll see if i can get help - and if i can’t then, then i’ll…bury you, i suppose - just try to keep calm! i’m - i’m sure that won’t be easy but, ah, at least try. ”

“What?!” The gem splutters and spits out her fruit smoothie when a stranger hurries towards her with genuine concern. It figures, the one time she eats “healthy”, someone comes to say it’s poison.

  He laughs, a low chuckle that comes from the soul. Oh, she’s GOOD. “Okay, not bad… but how about THIS?” He clears his throat, one hand moving to straighten out the flower on his vest. With that done, he leans in closer so that he can whisper. Can’t have anyone stealing his material, after all. “What did the buffalo say to his son who was going off to college?” He paused for a beat, then two. Just long enough to build the suspense without losing the moment. “BISON!!”

Amethyst snorts, rolling her eyes at the corny joke. It’s refreshing to have someone to trade puns with, especially the silly ones. “Heh, that reminds me of a super long buffalo sentence.”

With a desire to share the worst she knows, she rocks back and forth on her heels and taps a finger to her lips, humming in the process.

“You think so?”

Pearl’s tone and smile are just as warm as the fire. Amethyst looks cute in her cashmere sweater, too. Gems had no need for protection from the cold, but it was nice to be in spirit. It was awfully hard for Pearl to say no when everyone was begging her…

She leans down to kiss Amethyst and their lips are nearly touching before they’re rudely interrupted.

“Oh!” she cries in frustration. Tate’s been working his way into the bag of marshmallows this whole time.  Not only that, but Amethyst is loaded. “Weren’t you watching him, Amethyst?! And why are you roasting so many at once?!”

“What--I was in the moment!” she shakes her fiery stick a few more times, not straying far from Pearl’s side. 

A pout pulls at her lips until her Ditto finally drags himself back to the bag, the sight causing her to grin. “At least it’s just Tate. Besides, he’s fine, see?” She drops the stick she was burning marshmallows on, the sugary treats still on fire, and lifts Tate into the air to show off his undisturbed form.

@pearlfectionate

Unusually restless for even herself, Amethyst sits beside her girlfriend and looks to the reindeer pulling their sleigh. It was Amethyst’s idea to jump on a private sleigh with some reindeer, but Pearl was prepared to take the reins anyway. However, as fidgety as Amethyst is, Pearl is unusually tense. 

Pearl hasn’t been herself lately, at least, not her usual self. Even in the way she sits---posture rigid and hands tight around the reins---it’s clear that she’s on edge. It’s been this way ever since Halloween, and things have only gotten worse with Yellow Diamond’s arrival.

But as her friends know, Amethyst is not the best at comforting others. She doesn’t pretend to understand what Pearl is going through, and so far nothing she’s done has been enough.

She scooches closer to Pearl until their hips are touching and her hand comes to rest on Pearl’s thigh. Her lips are quirked up on one side as she squeezes her hand just enough to get her partner’s attention.

Their anniversary is coming up, and although she isn’t sure if they’re going to celebrate, it means something to Amethyst. She doesn’t have a birthday like humans do, so a day to celebrate, a day for her and Pearl to share, is special.

“No! Aesthetically pleasing compact Amethyst! She’ll step on you!”

Seeing and believing are about as different as the usual saying implies---that is to say, very. So when Amethyst first lays eyes on the infamous Yellow Diamond, she doesn’t think much of it. At least until she does a double-take, her mind digesting the geometrical and mustard-coloured appearance.

It takes less than a minute for the young gem to dart around a corner, doubling-over and panting with an open mouth. 

She didn’t expect to run across Yellow Diamond on her own, even after Pearl’s earlier panic attack announcing the Diamond’s arrival. But nerve-wracking as it may be, she has the advantage here. Yellow Diamond is undoubtedly stripped of her powers---the worst of them anyway.

With that in mind, the Quartz steels herself for a confrontation. Sure, it may be reckless and downright naïve, but witnessing her friends fall to terror is a powerful call to action.

She stands upright with an exhale, her posture steady as she rounds the corner and searches the street for Yellow Diamond. Unsurprisingly, finding a tall, yellow tyrant is easier than it sounds. Amethyst even has the element of surprise on her side, her short form jogging to catch up with the other gem, and uses her raspy voice to make a lasting first impression.