LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN since tumblr eats asks. Jaspearl 4, Pearlnet 9, Jaspearlnet 11, annnnnd Milky Quartz/Copper Pearl 8 :)
DID I GET ALL OF THEM I DONâT EVEN KNOW.
~1,200 words.
Can I touch you? - MilkyxCopper
Copper Pearl was the least pearl-like Gem of her caste that Milky Quartz had ever met. She didnât know manyânot before working in Jasperâs Arena, and she didnât really know them now, even if she saw pearls with their owners frequentlyâbut everything she had been told to expect about pearls in her brief training was summarily wrong when it came to Copper.
Copper was wild and angry and loud, and Milky wondered if there had been some mistake when they were madeâcenturies apart, in totally different sectors of the Home Galaxyâbecause even towering over the Arena Pearl, Milky felt small by comparison. Somehow, they were backwards. Copper took no inch, refused assistance and affection, and Milky was certain that if she werenât pearl-sized she would do better in the Arena than most of the competitors she knew. By stark contrast, Milky was meek for a quartz, quiet and content to stay still, and she could probably fade into the background if not for her bulk.
They were an interesting match. Milky worked with Copper, followed her dutifully and acted as reinforcement in case she needed it (and she rarely did), and they both answered to Jasper, who let the pair handle almost everything to do with the arena with such a hands-off approach that she often wasnât even there.
But Copper was weird. Milky understood this on a fundamental level, and she didnât dislike her for it. But Copper skirted any and all contact, and refused helpârefused to let Milky lift things for her, rejected Milkyâs attempts to get closer to her, explicitly condemned her for being overbearing (which was her job) and for hovering (what else was she meant to do?)âand Milky⊠didnât know what to do about that.
Jasper wasnât bothered the way she was. Jasper didnât understand why Milky cared so much. She wouldnât elaborate on why, exactly, Copper had been confiscated, or why sheâd become an Arena Pearl; that wasnât important, wasnât her concern. The past was over, and Copper was their subordinate, and Milky didnât need to fuss over things that didnât matter to do her job. Milky privately thought that was unusually cold of her, but didnât say it. She barely knew her boss, after all.
And she barely knew Copper. But she wanted to. They hadnât gotten off on a very good foot to start with, but their relationship had done nothing but improve over the years.
Except that she hadnât touched her, outside of a single handshake on the day they had met.
And that was weird.
Milky knew a little about Copperâs history. She knew sheâd been confiscated, knew her previous owner wasnât even allowed in their sector, knew that the abuse was significant. She sometimes looked haunted, and spooked if other Gems got too closeâshe seemed somewhat less spooked by Milky, but less didnât mean much. Even Jasper could make their Arena Pearl jump out of her skin, and she usually saw her coming.
She didnât ask. She didnât need to know. Jasper was right that it wasnât her business, even if Copper sometimes looked impossibly sad when she was tending to swords alone. Her pretty eyes glazed over and she stilled, hands in her lap, weapons forgotten, and Jasper often just told Milky to let her be.
The white quartz did sometimes seek her out between matches, but Milky found too often that Copper preferred work and silence to communication or any kind of bonding she could think of. Milky wanted to help, wanted to get closer to her, and she didnât know how.
So she waited, and hovered a little too much, and endured the way Copper yelled at her for being overbearing. Milky didnât mind.
The Arena was presently undergoing renovations. There were concerns of structural instability, and as the Arena Pearl, Copper was in charge of overseeing most of the workâthe zoisite in charge was doing her work via vid screen, while a pair of granites handled the physical laborâand Copper had made it abundantly clear that Milky had no place hovering around her while she was going over plans.
âYou could not be more underfoot, Milky,â Copper said in her usual terse, no-nonsense tone, and Milky wondered sometimes whether her coworker liked her at all.
In an effort to not be underfoot, the quartz had opted to go for a jog in the main arena area. There wasnât much else to do with Jasper visiting another sector, and they couldnât be open when the entryway itself was getting an overhaul.
The sound of construction came to a screeching, explosive halt out of nowhere, and Copperâs scream was unmistakable; Milky had never heard it, but the shriek couldnât have come from anyone else, and no one but Copper could make Milkyâs heart stop cold like that.
Milky didnât think sheâd ever moved so fast in her life. But then, sheâd never needed to.
Milkyâs spin-dash was lackluster and a little sloppy, but it was a good way to barrel through debris. The zoisite was screeching in panic onscreen, while only one of the hulking granites was visibleâand she was pulling ineffectively at the sizable debris, where the entryway arch had collapsed.
âWhereâs Copper?â Milky asked, and for once, her voice was sharp and crisp. âWhere is she?!â
âUnder,â the granite managed, brows furrowed, âThey both are, I canâtââ
It wasnât for lack of caring, but Milky didnât commit the rest of her words to memory. Her focus shrank to a pinprick, and she dove forward, shield at the ready, and she wedged it into the rubble to lever away at pieces she knew she couldnât heft alone. If Copper had time to scream, she might not have dissipated her form, which meant she might be hurt, andâ
There were worse possibilities, but Milky couldnât bear to think about them.
âCopper!â she shouted frantically, hardly hearing the zoisiteâs shrill demand that she stop flinging rubble everywhere. âCopper where are you?!â
Rubble shifted near her, and Milky summoned a second shield, in time to see a flash of skinâCopperâs elbowâtrying to dislodge some of the stone from on top of her.
Milky scrambled, started pulling and shifting rocks as she unearthed the pearl, and Copper began to cough dryly, choking on dust. âCopper! Copper, Iââ
âDonât,â Copper hissed, but Milky wasnât listening, and that was clear from the frustrated look on her coworkerâs face. âMilky, youâre brittle, if it caves inâGet out of here!â
âAre you cracked?â Milky wasnât sure if she meant it literally or figuratively, but her brows knitted together, and she faltered, reaching for Copper and coming up short. âCopper, youâre hurt, I need toâyour Gem, I have to see, Iâcan I touch you? I canât get you out if I donât, Iâm sorryââ
Copperâs golden eyes went wide. Even frantic and desperate, she was mindfulâand no one had ever really offered her that kind of consideration before. She stared, and then, with some hesitation, she reached up and clasped Milkyâs bigger hand for the second time.
âI donât mind⊠This time.â
Milky used infinite care to extract her from the rubble, and shielded her from the graniteâs hovering attempts to help. Copperâs Gem was miraculously intact; scuffed, just barely, but it wasnât a crack and that was the important thing. That Milky insisted on being there and treating her herself, that she kept the medic Gems at bay when they arrived, left a greater impression on Copper than she likely would have admitted for a thousand years.
