Chương 83: LOG-078.

It felt incredible. Different to spending my time alone in the Roaming Eye trying to stay sane. Or losing myself to the electric atmosphere of the rave. This... this felt ever so very personal, in no small part thanks to just who I was doing it with. A Ge m to f ear. T o ob ey. T o serv e. And yet that dynamic was now outdated, replaced by a newer, far more pleasurable one. We moved. Two steps forward, one step back, my hands gently grasping at Emerald's own all the while.

We'd both taken it slowly enough at first, the heavily blushing admiral not used to any form of dancing beyond the decidedly deadly dance of combat (even now I could see her searching for some form of threat or vulnerability, only to flinch in surprise and abruptly remember just what was happening as I leaned forward, letting my nose brush against hers), and I still in the process of sorting out my ow n f ee lin gs enough to make adding her to my wonderful fusion viable.

And oh did I have an utter mess of feelings, even if I was deter mined to both p lea se Em era ld and enjoy myself thoroughly in the process. There was a part of me that still felt... fear. Fear at being so close to someone who should by all rights seek vengeance on me. A smaller part of me also felt a little scared for similar yet entirely distinct reasons, in spite of all logical reasoning. And yet... and yet there was a certain desire there, from both my halves, that proved enough to beat those fears back.

My components, both Viridian and Vermilion, wanted this. I wanted this. And by the Stars was I going to take it. The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Oh!" The green Gem in my arms audibly gasped as I finally escalated and grabbed hold of her waist, spinning her around and around, almost low enough that her hair was at risk of brushing against the sand beneath us both. There was no music here. No sounds beyond our lightforms shifting in place. And yet I didn't need it. At risk of sounding like an airheaded romantic...

even just Emerald's mere presence seemed more than enough for me, especially whenever I got to gaze into her slightly lost, yet ever so very eager eyes. She'd experienced fusion exactly once. And in spite of her indoctrination by the Empire, that singular forbidden taste had led to her curiosity driving her forward to participate in this experiment of ours. I couldn't blame her. I was exactly the same.

Drawing my dancing partner back up, I allowed our bodies to press against each other for just a scant few seconds, before drawing back and starting the elaborate, impromptu dance anew once more, deeply savouring the visible disapointment all but radiating from the admiral, quickly replaced by that same befuddled happiness as we repeated the process all over again.

My grin widened as we both pressed close once more, letting me see in exact detail the way her flustered face was practically glowing from the bright green flush spreading even further across it.

"You're adorable."

"You're adorable." S-she was an Emerald. A (former or not) distinguished admiral of the Great Diamond Authority. She was of a valuable cut, and of high quality. She was a rare Gem. An intelligent Gem. A powerful Gem. And one as durable as the strongest of warriors when it came down to it. And yet she felt so very much like a particularly soft mass of clay at the moment, standing on the verge of stretching and breaking apart not from combat but from the delicate fingers of a far too smug looking Pearl.

She tried to maintain her composure. She really did. But Honey Lemon's delicate golden hands were tracing faint, deliberate paths along her lightform, with a touch so precise she could have been convinced that it had been created for this sole purpose. Every brush against her body sent an unexpected shiver through her entire being, posture tensing for a blow that never came, throwing her mental discipline into complete disarray over and over again.

It was a ritual, one the quite literal personification of her former Pearls' union led with unyielding confidence, guiding her every step deeper into this unfamiliar and utterly overwhelming territory. Truly, she didn't know whether the flush maintaining a hold on her neck and face was the result of embarassment at acting out a role so clearly outside of her designed function, embarassment at enjoying it so much or... or whatever she was feeling towards the yellow Gem right now!

"S-so are you!" She was being forced ever deeper into an unwinnable defensive! She needed to push back damn it! And then, almost as if in direct response to her thoughts, Honey Lemon batted those eyelashes of hers once more, tilting her head in just the right way to have some of her hair lightly brush against Emerald's own, obscuring the rogue officer's vision just long enough for the large Pearl to bring forward a hand and cup the admiral's chin.

"Mm, we both are, my Emerald... what do you think we'll look like when we're together?" Oh Stars this just wasn't fair! Yet as true as that thought was, it would fade in the minutes to come, replaced by enjoyment of the dance and her partner's company, alongside a more than shared desire to see just what kind of Gem, what kind of existence, they would form together.

And eventually, just as things seemed ready to come to a close, just as they both were leaning into each other once more for whatever finale Honey Lemon had planned... Light.