#Zircon fic

[zirkkun]

i have been working on one singular fanfic, which is going on 50k+ words atm, since like the beginning of December and this is all i have to show of the plot atm please take my offering

[wholesome-cryptid]

Hey!!! Went wrote a fic about my Latios oc Zircon!!! i'd really appreciate it if you checked it out!!! it's basically an origin story of how he and Steven met!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62044975

[tartaruga-cosmica]

still fucking love that first one. reblogging because I can

them........................................................................................ if 35 year-old man, why babygirl shaped (feat. a scene from my Muses fic on Ao3)

[saintbrown]

Idea for a Steven Universe AU fic:

Pink Prince AU

Here’s how it goes:

During the gem war, sometime before what would have been Bismuth’s bubbling, Rose watches Pearl be shattered in the middle of a battle and is overwhelmed with rage. She lets go of every restraint she has imposed on herself since she lost her original pearl and unleashes her destructive powers on the opposing army, turning the tides of war in a matter of minutes, as well as shapeshifting back into Pink Diamond in the process. When Blue and Yellow Diamond come down to Earth to reprimand her, Pink, no longer feeling any sort of emotion towards them, attacks them too, bouncing off Yellow’s destabilizing attacks and shrugging off Blue’s emotional ones, calling them too weak in comparison to her own turmoil. She sends them both back to Homeworld, telling them that if they ever come back, they will be shattered.

After the battle, the Crystal Gems are divided, between a majority like Garnet and Bismuth, who feel betrayed by Pink’s lies and blame her for the death of Pearl (as well as many others), and a minority that decides to stay by her side, along side most of her court from Homeworld (who turned sides after the revelation) and the humans that survived the battle. Garnet and Bismuth lead their group to a place far away where they can start over, which would later be called Beach City. Meanwhile, in the time it took for Pink to grieve everything she had lost, the gems and humans that stayed started a kingdom around her and asked her to be their Queen, a position she accepts reluctantly.

Cut to 5,400 years later and Pink’s new kingdom is thriving. It’s rivers are overflowing with the Diamond’s lacrimal essence, which means it’s people have never seen a day of disease in their lives and the ground is the most fertile that the Earth has ever seen. The Queen’s close circle consists of a Zircon who serves as her political advisor, a Jasper who, once her deadliest enemy, is now her most loyal soldier and captain of the guard, as well as Jasper’s squire, the last Amethyst that the Prime Kindergarten ever produced.

One day, a musician rolls into town, a man by the name of Greg Universe. Usually, the thick forest that surrounds the kingdom (which Pink raised to prevent invading armies from reaching her kingdom (and being decimated by Jasper)) would only grant safe passage to her citizens, and yet Mr. Universe’s peaceful nature and harmonious melodies lead him straight to the gates, just as he runs out of gas. Without a gas station in sight, Greg has to stay put while his car is adapted to be solar powered, just like every other vehicle in the kingdom, and Pink takes the opportunity to get to know the outsider that her forest deemed worthy. Once it’s time for Greg to leave, he decides not to as he has already fallen in love with Pink. The two fall deeper in love every day they are together until finally, Pink gives up her physical form and the Pink Prince is born: Steven Universe.

As he grows up, Steven is trained by Jasper and Amethyst to be just as strong as his mother, while Zircon teaches him to be just as wise (she also serves as the kingdom’s regent until Steven is ready to take up the throne). During a history lesson, Zircon brings out a mirror that is meant to give the prince a visual aid. One thing leads to another and Steven releases a Lapis Lazuli that runs away and takes all of the kingdom’s water with her. Steven, Jasper, Amethyst, Zircon and Greg set out to recover their most precious resource and as they arrive at the water tower that Lapis has erected, the group realizes that they aren’t the only ones there. From the opposite direction, approach a Bismuth, a Ruby and a Sapphire.

After the Lapis situation is resolved, having learned of his mom’s past before the kingdom, Steven decides that the best way to become just as great a ruler as her is to learn about all facets of her life, even Rose Quartz. So he starts using the warp pad on a regular basis to visit the Crystal Gems, in Beach City.

[obsessedfluffbutt]

Just posted the first chapter of my newest fic! Out in the Universe(title subject to change)

Kidnapped and taken to Homeworld, put on trial as the Rose Quartz, rebel, criminal, murderer. Could things get any worse? Probably. Could they get any better? Maybe.

The trial was a disaster. His lawyer had clearly been set up, the poor Zircon forced to defend him and terrified of her own potential shattering the entire time. At least Lars was okay, even if he was stuck sitting on the cold floor with a bubble around his head. It seemed as though he wouldn’t get the chance to say anything, to truly defend himself when Yellow Diamond claps her hands together, cheerily calling for his execution. That is until Blue Diamond decides she wants to hear what happened directly from him. She wants to know how his mom, how he shattered Pink Diamond.

He stands on the raised platform, fiddling with his fingers, nervous under the scrutiny of the two massive women. He can’t do this. He can’t pretend to be her, he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to take her punishment, he doesn’t want to die.

[cryptozoolliegy]

Fintro post!! (please excuse the pun)

HELLO!!! My name is Finn! Or Ollie! I'm a tranmasc queer teenage writer! I am also NEURODIVERGENT!!! I have diagnosed ADHD and a few other things hehe- I've also self-diagnosed some shit but I'm never gonna say which things I've self-diagnosed because if I do I will forever live in fear that people will think I'm doing it for attention-

FACT TIME!

I go by he/him!

I LOVE INDIE MUSIC AND ROCK MUSIC (WILL WOOD AND MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE ARE MY FAVORITE BANDS) (I ALSO FUCKING LOVE CHONNY JASH) (HE IS ALSO A FAVORITE)

Getting my schoolwork back on track!! :3

I like whump writing. Love it actually. Favorite tropes are Living Weapon whump, pet whump, and recovery from either of these hehe

I love rats. Rats are the best. I love them. This is reflected in my formal evilsona, who is literally genetically part rat. I love rats I love rats I love rats.

I'm the artist formerly known as lordcatwich- I changed it

Digital Artist and writer!

WIP SECTION!!

I have SO many WIPs you wouldn't BELIEVE

But I only have two main ones. HERE WE GO

Axerim!!

Two people who've practically been best friends since birth find themselves in the clutches of evil, evil people. This story is about the trauma that happens, mainly. But oh, how amazing it is.

Setting- Medieval Fantasy

MCs- Kirix (They/Them, 18) and Barlow (They/Them, 18)

Finleylore!!

@evil-lordcatwich 's traumatic backstory, featuring crazy companies and a rat. A child prodigy decides to persue villainy as a career- what could possibly go wrong?

Setting- Alternate timeline 2029

MCs- Doctor Finley Rose (He/Him/They, 14-21)

The Jashfic >:)

HMSW Gem AU fic!! My first attempt at an actual fanfic. Uh. Just. They're very sad and I can't think of how else to summarize this RN so-

Setting: A planet far, far away. Similar to Earth. Time unknown.

Characters: Taaffeite/Heart (He/They), Malachite/Mind (He/It), Zircon/Soul (He/Him), Tourmaline/Whole (He/They/It)

If you wanna get to know me or send me asks and stuff FEEL FREE I LOVE GETTING TO KNOW ONLINE PEOPLEEEEE

seeya sooooon :3

RP blogs:

@lordratwich

[shame-is-a-wasted-emotion]

Chapter 4 of 14 Stones Of A Curse is up!!

Chapter 4: Ruby Rendezvous (on AO3)

Fic Title:14 Stones Of A Curse

Rating:Explicit

Archive Warning:Major Character Death

Category:M/M

Fandoms:Glee,Glee Klaine,Klaine-Fandom

Relationship:Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel

Characters:

Blaine Anderson,Kurt Hummel,Burt Hummel,Sebastian Smythe,Finn Hudson,Sam Evans (Glee)

Chapter summary : Ruby ignites the fiery story of trust and friendship: seeds for the growing bright flame of love

You can read the rest of the chapters here 👇

Chapter 1: Prologue

Chapter 2: Opal Odyssey

Chapter 3: Zircon Zephyr

Written for the Klaie Valentine’s challenge 2024 by @klaineccfanficlibrary

Shout out to my betas @esperantoauthor and @england-would-fall for their unwavering support and editing. Thank you guys!!

Prompt of day 3: Sh-Boom by The Chords

[thefloatingwriter]

I feel like i submit a lot of asks so I apologise but oh my god do you have any more beetee and wiress thoughts individually or as a couple idm id be blessed with anything. I've never met someone who is also passionate about them and it makes me SO HAPPY

absolutely never apologize for sending me asks, especially if they’re about beetee and wiress. seriously they make me physically ill i’m so obsessed with them. honestly i just appreciate that i've found other people who are also insane about them!! send me as many asks as you want, i will always answer and i love you for them 💗💗

okay if you really want to hear me yap you should go to this post, which is basically every single thought i have ever had about district Three and all of its inhabitants. i am also working on my D3 tribute list, which is taking a lot of time and work since it’s really depressing to have to work on it but i’m working on it! <3

Beetee:

all of my beetee hcs and thoughts (well, most of them) will be compiled in my fic about him. but i’m sure i can think of some more without spoiling everything…

he really liked superheroes when he was younger. he thought that the idea of someone whose sole purpose in life was to save people was really cool.

he tends to hyper-focus on things when he’s stressed, agitated, or trying not to think about something.

his aunt on his mother’s side and uncle on his dad’s side both went into the hunger games, the 16th and the 14th respectively.

his hair can get really long during the off season or when he’s not in the Capitol. his prep team always has a heart attack over the “state he let his hair come to” as if he had let a bird lay eggs in it or something.

in relation to that: adeline sometimes braids it when she needs something to do with her hands.

in terms of victors, he was preceded by Paris Sanford of One and succeeded by Stella Fairchild of Four.

he’s particularly close with Paris (see this post!) honestly, their relationship is really important to the general plot of… everything basically.

Wiress:

she was considered a knife expert in Three, especially with throwing knives, due to it being an activity she performed at her mother’s circus. for obvious reasons, it helped her a lot in the games.

she got a training score of nine. the only reasons she wasn’t immediately chased by careers was because of the girl from seven’s training score of ten.

she has insanely long hair, like almost hitting the top of her thighs long. she had to crudely use a knife to chop most of it off during her first games, but she grew it back out after she won.

her district partner was her ex-boyfriend who had cheated on her. she refused to shake his hand when their escort told them to since she “didn’t know where his hand had been”.

she’s either dressed extremely regally with gowns and expensive jewelry and heels or she looks like she just rolled out of bed. there’s absolutely no in between.

she’s addicted to shitty capitol reality tv.

she’s preceded by Zircon (“Conner”) Lewis from One and succeeded by Wattson Amott from Five.

Beetee and Wiress:

the most important thing to remember about beetee and wiress’ relationship is that they started as the strangest situationship in the history of mankind.

half of the victors are also convinced they have never left this stage of their relationship, but a lot of the younger victors are like convinced that the two are just really good friends and haskell is just like ??? no???? it’s common knowledge that they’ve been fucking for like two decades?????

but anyways… wiress couldn’t sleep after her victory and for some reason beetee was the only person who made her feel safe enough to fall asleep for more than half an hour so they both started sleeping in the same house, same room, same bed… before they were even close to the romantic stage of their relationship.

wiress catches feelings because… well, it’s wiress. but beetee is completely emotionally repressed (we love that for him) so he just pretends he doesn’t notice.

beetee has a lot of trouble accepting love from anyone, and it takes him a few years before he gets used to the thought of anyone being in love with him. and, of course, it’s even more complicated in practice…

basically it takes them like nine years for beetee to finally be like “hey… i think i’m in love with you…” and of course wiress is completely flabbergasted by this while everyone else is like “that’s been painfully obvious for at least five years where have you been??”

i mentioned on a post a few days back that their relationship is really complicated in a lot of people’s eyes and here’s why: the capitol doesn't know they’re together. like at all. i mean snow does but snow knows everything so that’s obvious. but seriously there’s a running debate with beetee fans (you can not tell me that capitol citizens don’t have favorite victors bc i’m right) over if he’s dating anyone and if he is who. and then the top answers are always either paris or wiress… so those two fanbases just absolutely despise each other. and so everyone expects wiress and paris to hate each other… honestly it’s just a convoluted mess lol.

wiress wore her wedding ring during her interview for the 75th hunger games and the capitol absolutely went batshit over it. (and caesar flickerman probably lost like twenty years on his lifespan that night too lol).

then beetee follows her, talks about how the quell should be examined for legality for about five seconds, then just starts yapping about how amazing his wife is and caesar is just sitting there like 🪑😶.

thank you so much for the ask!! seriously never hesitate to come rant in my inbox, i love receiving asks especially if they’re about these weird scientists in love 💗💗

[asco-bisco]

SBG Steven Universe AU

my take on school bus graveyard au and what gems I think the characters would be. I also added weapons but I only thought of a concept for Ashlyn and aiden.

Ashlyn - I think she would be either a jasper or amethyst. My first idea was an over cooked ruby but rubies are low-class guards and I don’t want to put Ashlyn in that position but her being an over cooked ruby is part of a whole other idea I had in mind.

I think her falling under a guard role would fit best for her, in my opinion but I feel like there’s something I’m missing. Aside from that, I also think that her weapon would be something like Mega Pearl’s weapon because her doing ballet just makes me think of ribbons but I’m not sure.

Aiden - My original idea was for him to be a plain human since that’s his role in one of my fic ideas but if he were to be a gem, I think it would be a pearl. Making Aiden a low-class gem and an ‘object’ might be purely for character but I feel it fits. I think he would be a rebel like Pearl and not follow orders or break rules.

But he could also be an aquamarine, a gem assisting diamonds but also being granted freedom since they can fly from planet to planet and collect what they please.

His weapon I feel would be something like a dagger or a spear like Pearl, if we’re going with the pearl idea. Or maybe just a two sided dagger or spear.

Ben - I have three ideas for him, a sapphire, a morganite, or a pearl. Oh, and he has a cracked gem for all of them.

A morganite because they are gems in charge of architecture and are artistic gems but not much is known about them other than that and they are high-ranking gems.

A sapphire because I felt like it just fit. Also, my sister told me sapphires like to sing but I couldn’t find anything about that, I still think Ben should be a sapphire - it’s also for a whole toher idea I had in mind.

A pearl because they are known to serve the higher-ups and as stated earlier, they’re objects. In the Webtoon, Ashlyn thinks that Ben follows Aiden around because he doesn’t know what to do with himself so giving him the role of a gem with the purpose of purely serving others and being ordered around would fit.

Logan - An aquamarine or zircon. I don’t actually have a reaosn as to why I chose a zircon for him other than the fact that him being a lawyer was amusing to me. And for an aquamarine because of whatever I explained for Aiden. But a pearl could work for Logan too since both him and pearls were ‘objects’ and assisted people.

Y’know, like him and Barron.

Tyler & Taylor - I was thinking they were one of Yellow Diamond’s experiments, they were a forced fusion or were like the rutile twins. I’m giving them trauma because they don’t have mommy and/or daddy issues anymore so making them an Off Color or a forced fusion experiment seemed fitting.

Other than that, I think Taylor would be a peridot or bismuth(more fitting) since they’re both known to create things. Her being a bismuth seems fitting since I saw on Red’s Insta story that Taylor can weld things together.

I don’t know what Tyler would be though. Either a guard that was pushed aside because I was planning for him to be ‘over cooked’ like Amethyst.

Actually, both the twins are over cooked now because I said so/hj

This is super messy, I’ll probably end up rewriting this when I get my lapotp

[zirkkun]

ok but killer x ink dynamic is great- - both sillies - both are bad at emotions - both will set up a prank for funsies it's like a match made in heaven honestly they'll feed off of each other's chaotic energy and it's amazing and i love it

YES I KNOW THEYRE SO GOOD ANON YOU GET ME!!

They also like jokingly flirting and not actually meaning it and i love the idea of them accidentally then meaning it at some point

[zirconika]

- ͙۪۪̥˚┊❛ "ZIKA. . .LIKE THE VIRUS?" Precisely.

ANCIENT SCRIPTURES.

➸ main masterlist ⁑ fic recs

➸ MOST RECENT: happy ending (daryl dixon)

WISHING WELL.

➸ request guidelines (OPEN)

THE ZIRCON CAVE.

➸ about zika ⁑ boundaries ⁑ fandoms

TEMPLE MAP.

➸ blog tags ⁑ anon list ⁑ milestones

© zirconika (2024)

[sporesdoingart]

oops i did it again

gemcyt niki!!!!!!!

i did some research on pink emeralds and they a apparently don’t occur naturally or smth but also b are called morganite. soooooooo

anyways her weapon is a big ass axe. bc women with axe.

for her story:

niki was always smaller in form due to her cut, leading to a lot of disadvantages. after a few incidents involving involving a familiar zircon, she wanted nothing to do with Yellow’s court.

so, she went to Pink, who graciously gave her a high ranking position and control over a kindergarten and two fleets

she’s kind, but those who take it for granted will learn that she’s not made out of sugar.

she’s also gonna be a big player in a series of fics that i’m gonna be writing so look out for that.

as always, au is by @chrisrin!!

[eileen-crys]

The Pendant

Written for @johnica-weeks 2024 ✨️

Once upon a time there was a young man called John, whose youth brought him far from home like many other boys his age. He was never really eager to travel alone, away from his dear mom and sister, but with a hopeful smile and a promise, he left.

WARNING: Mention/reference of past sexual violence, non descriptive

For Johnica Week 2024, prompts: Torn between options, Gemstone: Zircon zircon is a talisman of travelers. They count on it to lead to a shelter and show the right way. Plus, it is able to protect from injuries. Women used the gem to ease childbirth, drive away evil spirits, enhance health, get wisdom, and attract good luck."

I wanted to write a sort of fairytale circling around the gemstones and how it helps both travelers and pregnant women... so here it is! It's a bit long but I'm really happy of the result! 🥰💕 Please don't forget to comment and reblog if you liked it! This is my last fic for the event, sadly I couldn't write more 🤧

[gemsbian]

ooooh for requests, have the ametrio/amethio really interacted with omen at all? if so, i'm really curious how their first meeting with her was! (inspired by the art you posted of amethio being Extremely Uncomfortable while standing next to her) so if you have any writing to share regarding that i'd love to see it

I don't have any writing with Omen yet! I've been feeling more compelled to *draw* with her instead of write, but I'll probably get around to some fics later

It might be fun to do a "first meeting / impression of Omen" with the other four admins and ZirCon, like how I did with Frankie. I would write an Amethio chapter in that, his would just be different! Though, the audience for that may be like two people lol

In the meantime, I do have some rambling about how Zir and Conia view her!

[obligatory cropped version of the chibis from that drawing - it's cute]

To start, Gibeon gave Omen her unkind nickname after she got severely injured. Throughout her life, she's had a lot of unpleasant things happen to her and the people she cares about, so it's a fitting if not mean-spirited nickname. How she feels about it is unclear

It's Gibeon that orders the rest of the Explorers to call her Omen as a way of airing his resentment towards her. Some of the Admins are aware that her real name is Oleander, but Amethio is the only one who refuses to call her Omen

Zir and Conia aren't aware of her former name, but they do pick up that Amethio doesn't call her Omen which strikes them as odd, they may start calling her Oleander later on when they start piecing things together

In the drawing where Amethio looks uncomfortable, that's because she's supervising one of his missions and he's nervous about how she feels. From Zir and Conia's perspective, they'd probably view Omen as someone Amethio is scared of

Until time goes on, and that explanation makes less and less sense, because if Amethio is scared of her, why is he the first one to make sure she's eaten?

Why doesn't he have any apprehension when he grabs her arm and tugs her into another room, not seeming to realize how childish it looks, like it's something he's done for a while?

When Spinel makes a snide comment, she doesn't bat an eye at having her Lycanroc ruthlessly take out his Umbreon. Viscous in a way that makes Conia's blood run cold

But when it's Amethio speaking out of line, it's like the thought of battling him to prove rank never occurs to her

And when Zir and Conia refuse to leave Amethio's side, going against her orders, the look she gives them is almost akin to respect. Nothing like the threats they thought they'd receive for disobedience.

The other Admins would likely attribute this treatment to Amethio being a "spoiled brat" but Zir and Conia can see there's more than meets the eye

That's a lot, but Omen is a pretty mysterious character ^^ if there are any questions about her, feel free to send them my way

[fates-theysband]

the day you came, the sun ran out of light

idk what it is about this game that's making me pound out writing in a fevered haze but. another outer wilds self ship fic. here there be emotional conversations. maybe also some smooching. who's to say. also i think this is the first time i've had multiple of my s/is in one fic.

words: 2.2k

--

It was inaccurate to say Dark Bramble was ever quiet. It had…significantly less sound than somewhere like, say Giant’s Deep, that was for certain, but it was never quiet. Feldspar was part of the reason, of course, since their harmonica was usually the loudest thing in earshot. But even when they weren’t playing, they could hear other things. The distant screeches of anglerfish fighting for territory, the crackling of the fire, and, sometimes, if they listened just closely enough, the distant sparking of their ship’s remains. 

One thing they never expected to hear in their corner of Dark Bramble, though, was thrusters. Especially thrusters without the follow-up of an anglerfish immediately giving chase. It’d certainly happened to them enough times during the trip that stranded them here. They set their harmonica aside and squinted at the fog, searching for any sign that the ship was close to their camp…only for a BANG to resound from the back of the skeleton, followed by…voices?

“Stars above, are you trying to get us both killed!?”

“It was just the landing gear, I can bend it back into shape in three seconds!”

“We won’t have three seconds if every anglerfish in this…abomination against nature is after us!”

“The frequency–”

“Shut up about the frequency! You don’t think that landing was louder?” 

“It’s not about how loud it is, it’s about how unpleasant it is, first of all. Second–”

Feldspar was loath to move out of range of the gravity crystal, but they couldn’t lie that they were intrigued. The arguing voices were unmistakably familiar, and as they crept to the very edge of their camp, they could see two figures in spacesuits, floating toward the camp from a ship wedged between the skeleton’s tailbones. They were about the same height and build as each other, although one of them wore a noticeably shabbier spacesuit–Feldspar recognized it as the training spacesuit from the zero-g cave. That thing was barely spaceworthy, it didn’t even have proper boosters on the jetpack, and they already admired anyone who’d be willing to fly all the way out to Dark Bramble wearing it.

The figure in the training suit was reading their companion the riot act as the two of them floated closer. “–and you just start banging on my door, rambling about how ‘there’s no time to explain, just put this on’ and drag me out in that deathtrap Slate calls a ship–and you know how much I hate that you even climbed into that hunk of junk–but you beg me to trust you, and I do because you’re my sibling and at least if I’m with you I know what you’re getting up to, and to reward my trust you bring me to Dark Bramble of all places, the entire time flying like an absolute maniac and only by some sort of completely insane luck not ending up down some anglerfish’s gullet!”

Oh, now that voice was a sound for sore ears. Feldspar could scarcely believe it–they almost didn’t until the other figure cut in with, “Zirc, you’re blowing it out of proportion.” Stars above, Tourmaline had gotten big. They’d barely been old enough to operate a signalscope last time Feldspar had seen them, and now they were blasting off all by themself. Well, almost by themself. Seems they’d brought Zircon along for the ride. Good. There was a lot of lost time to make up with everyone on Timber Hearth, of course, but Zircon…

The pair came within range of the gravity crystal, and Feldspar stepped back a bit so it wasn’t too obvious they’d been eavesdropping. Zircon seemed to be wrapping up their rant. “I just wish you’d be a little more careful; if not for your sake, then for mine. I know you’re not deliberately reckless, but when you get like this you’re worse than–” They stopped in their tracks, seeming to notice just who they and their younger sibling were standing in front of. “Feldspar?” They froze in their tracks, their tone shifting from frustration to a combination of relief and disbelief in just that one word, before turning back toward Tourmaline. “Why didn’t you..?”

Tourmaline shrugged. “Didn’t think you’d believe me. Thought maybe you’d accuse me of playing with your feelings or something. Also, I kinda wanted it to be a surprise. But yeah. Feldspar’s still kickin’ around.”

“Kickin’ more than that,” Feldspar interjected, walking backward toward the campfire and motioning for Zircon and Tourmaline to follow. “Pull up a marshmallow stick, you two, I’ll tell you the whole story.”

“Sorry, I can’t stick around that long,” Tourmaline quickly replied, turning to leave. “I, uh, heard something really weird on my ship’s signalscope while I was navigating here and I wanna go check it out. Zirc, you wanna hang out here while I investigate? I won’t be long.”

“Tourmaline, what are you–” Zircon turned to grab their sibling’s shoulder, but Tourmaline put up a hand to stop them.

“Trust me, you’re a lot safer in this guy’s jaws,” they motioned to the roof of the anglerfish skeleton’s mouth, “than anywhere else in Dark Bramble.”

“The hatchling’s right,” Feldspar added. “No beasties will bother us here…and I’d love to catch up with you.” They winked. It wasn’t visible through the helmet, of course, but judging from the way Zircon tensed up at that last part, the message came through loud and clear.

“Fine,” Zircon relented, arms dropping to their sides. “Just…don’t do anything that’ll get you killed, please? For me?”

“If getting here didn’t kill me, nothing else will,” Tourmaline reassured, before gently motioning their head toward the campfire. “Go take a load off. I’ll be back.” They dashed off before Zircon could respond, and Feldspar heard the sound of thrusters again, fading away this time.

“Still just as subtle as they were back then, huh?” Feldspar said, settling back down to where they’d been sitting before the ship arrived, patting the ground next to them and looking at Zircon expectantly. “Crazy that they’re all grown up now.”

Zircon didn’t move. They stood where Tourmaline left them, staring at Feldspar, as if frozen in place. It put Feldspar in mind of someone watching the Quantum Moon–as if Zircon thought that, if they moved or blinked or did anything to break their focus, they’d be left standing alone in an abandoned campsite. Finally, after what felt like forever, they spoke, their voice wavering. “Everyone thought you were dead.”

“What, me? Not a chance.”

“Nobody else in the village would ever admit that, of course. Hearthian optimism at its finest. They’d say you were missing, or that you never came back, or that you’d disappeared, or they’d just awkwardly trail off after they said your name. But I thought–I knew–that you were dead.”

Feldspar stood up, approaching their old friend. “Zircon…” they murmured, unsure how to react.

“I cried, you know? When Hornfels told me they’d lost your signal? And for so long after that. It was so long before I could be alone for even an hour without thinking about you and breaking down. And having everyone else pretend that there was a chance you’d come back, that someone would find you, that one day someone would turn on their signalscope and hear you again–it just felt like they were dragging it out longer. Like instead of just letting me pull off the bandage in one go, they were making me gradually peel it away, so I felt every single cell of my skin individually separating from the adhesive, and it was agonizing.” Their voice trembled even more. “There’s so much I want to say to you that I thought I’d never get to say, and now…” they trailed off.

“Guess that makes two of us,” Feldspar responded with an awkward chuckle, attempting to lighten the mood. “Come on,” they extended a hand, “come sit by the fire and you can–”

Zircon cut them off, gripping their shoulders, and Feldspar could feel their glare through the helmet. “Some part of me wants to throttle you for being so reckless again, just like you always are, you always worried me so sick doing all those stupid dangerous stunts…the few times I thought about you and didn’t cry I was fuming, I was so angry that you’d done the one thing I always hoped you wouldn’t do and gotten yourself killed on one of your daring adventures…ugh.” They softened their grip. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t want the first thing I did when I saw you again to be berating you. I know that whatever you did to end up here wasn’t something you did on purpose. You’re too reckless for your own good, but you aren’t foolish.”

Feldspar pulled them into a hug, unable to stop themself from smiling. “All these years and you’re still such a worrywart,” they said fondly. “Can’t imagine how you’d have reacted if I’d made it back home. You’d try to have me grounded, wouldn’t you? ‘Feldspar’s not fit to fly, they went to Dark Bramble willingly! Nobody in their right mind would do that!’”

“Nobody in their right mind would come here,” Zircon replied, returning the hug and squeezing even tighter. “But I’m glad I had that particular lapse in judgment. Sorry for dumping on you like that. I’m really happy you’re okay.”

“Stars above, I missed you,” Feldspar responded. “Glad you didn’t worry yourself to death over me before I could see you again.”

“I don’t like seeing you in danger,” Zircon protested. “I know it bothers you because you have this reputation as a thrill-seeking daredevil whose last words are going to be ‘watch this’, but I only get that way because I…”

“Because you what?” Feldspar teased, pulling away from the hug but holding onto Zircon’s arms, cocking their head to the side. “Because you love me?” There was a bit of hope behind the joke. Not much hope; their half-joking flirtations had never landed back then, at least not as anything more than jokes. Still, they hoped this one would make Zircon smile, if nothing else.

It didn’t work. Zircon clenched their fists so hard their hands shook, and if they hadn’t been crying before the sound of their voice told Feldspar they definitely were now. “Because I don’t want to lose you that way. Because I don’t want you to die pointlessly just for a stupid adrenaline rush. And you know what? Yeah. Because I love you. I’ve learned that it definitely hurt so much more to know you were dead and I could never tell you how I felt, so I’m going to tell you while I still have the chance. I love you. I’m in love with you. You don’t have to love me back, but now you know. Are you happy now?”

Oh. That…was not the response Feldspar had been expecting, and they didn’t know how to react. They let go of Zircon’s arms and stepped back. “…wow. I feel like a real jerk now. You never seemed like you were actually into me back home, I…thought that would make you laugh like all my other lines did. I’m real sorry. Let’s…let’s get closer to the fire, there’s more air over there. Don’t wanna get tears all over your visor.” They reached out their hand again, and this time Zircon took it.

Neither of them spoke until they were both settled next to each other by the fire, helmets off and resting on the log behind them. Despite the tension in the air mingling with the campfire smoke, Feldspar couldn’t deny that Zircon still looked just as good as they had years ago. They’d have commented on it, but…that probably wouldn’t go well right now. Zircon finally broke the silence, calmer this time. “That was another thing I was meaning to ask you. Your ‘lines’...did you really mean those?”

It would have been easy to just say “yes” or “of course I did” or “you’re the only one I ever joked with that way, so I guess either way I was trying to tell you I liked you” or anything along those lines. That was the safe option. But…well, Feldspar was an incorrigible risk-taker with a habit of acting first and then thinking about it later. So instead, they leaned over and kissed Zircon square on the lips. When they pulled away, they did so with a cockeyed grin and a “That answer your question?”

Zircon froze again, blinking as though they were registering what had just happened. Then, once they’d processed everything, they were gripping Feldspar’s scarf like a lifeline, kissing them back so hard the two of them almost fell completely over from how far they were leaning. It was long and intense, so consuming that it was hard to hear anything else–not the fire, not the anglerfish, not anything.

Especially not jetpack thrusters or footsteps. When Zircon finally released Feldspar (who would swear they hadn’t been that dizzy since their first zero-g training), the two of them were finally able to notice the flickering shadow cast over them both. Tourmaline was back, and seemed amused by what they’d just seen. “You owe me an apology for lying to me when I was little, Zirc. You are too sweet on Feldspar.”

Feldspar couldn’t help but laugh at that. “They’ve got you there,” they told Zircon, gazing at them with a woozy smile.

For the first time since they’d shown up, Zircon finally smiled, a huffed laugh escaping their lips. “Don’t push your luck.”