Demonstration
“They’re not getting it,” Pearl informs Garnet.
Garnet doesn’t look up from the tactical schematics she is reviewing for Rose Quartz. “What’s there not to get?”
“ ‘Just dance until you fuse’ doesn’t do a very good job of breaking down a highly abstracted concept to troops.” Pearl wrings her hands together. “I don’t even understand what dancing has to do with it, actually.”
To be fair, if Pearl doesn’t get it then it’s highly unlikely that anyone else will. Garnet lets out a distracted sort of hum.
“Maybe if we had a demonstration…?” Pearl’s tone is hesitant. For all that she and Rose and everyone else understand that Garnet is the leading authority on fusion, no one has really met Ruby and Sapphire. As far as Garnet is concerned, they don’t need to, because it’s not like Sapphire and Ruby are absent from day to day life.
Well, okay, they don’t care so much about the day to day anymore. But this talk of fusion demonstrations has piqued their interest, and not exactly in a good way. It’s not because they don’t want others to understand fusion—Garnet wouldn’t have brought it up as a tactical solution to Homeworld’s larger numbers if others fusing wasn’t something she approved of—it’s just that a demonstration would require unfusing.
“No one understands?” asks Garnet.
“None that I could find.”
It doesn’t sound like there’s much of a choice, if they still want to use fusion as a battle tactic.
Garnet lets out a breath. She’s tense, and she knows it. She lives on quite vibrantly in Sapphire and Ruby, even when she unfuses, it’s just… it’s hard to convince herself to make the same sacrifice of personhood that Ruby and Sapphire continuously make for her, even for a little while. Perhaps it’s a confirmation that the relationship that defines her is good and stable, or that she as a personality has well and truly taken over. It’s hard to see the distinction from this vantage point, but Garnet doesn’t think she’s ever realized this about herself until just now.
Well, that and she hates talking to crowds.
“Garnet?” prods Pearl, looking concerned.
“Gather them on the training field. We’ll do one demonstration.”
She doesn’t miss Pearl’s poorly concealed look of glee as she dashes off. It’s to be expected, she supposes. It’s not as if their comrades are unwilling to learn.
Still, though. Unfusing.
Garnet nevertheless strides over to the training field with all manner of confidence, because that’s what someone of her stature has to do. The thirty or forty gems that have shown an interest in fusion are already there. All conversation instantly quells as Garnet stands on the raised stage in front of them, her arms akimbo. The crowd seems impossibly huge, and not even the toughest foe has bothered her like this.
“Fusion,” she says, and she makes sure that she’s projectingand way more articulate than usual, because she isn’t going to say this twice. “Is a verb. It is a process that continuously redefines itself, long after the initial effort has faded. It is a conversation between two gems who do not feel the need to hide from one another. If you are not willing to commit to full disclosure with your partner, then don’t fuse with them.”
There is a somewhat stiff silence, and then a fluorite asks, “So what’s the dancing for?”
“It’s a tool to help you align yourself with your partner. The point is not to match them perfectly, but rather to compliment them. Rearrange your physical constructs in such a way that they are compatible on a molecular level. Dancing forces you to find a rhythm together, and in doing so it makes the process of fusing easier.”
With that said, Garnet takes a breath and falls apart. When the gems in the crowd see Sapphire and Ruby, a hushed silence falls over them. It’s almost reverent.
Ruby shuffles uncomfortably. Reverent or not, all of these stares are making her itch. Would pacing on stage be terribly unprofessional?
Sapphire, who knew this would happen, glances at her partner and rightly realizes that Ruby won’t be the first to speak aloud.
“We—” she gestures to Ruby. “Are both corundums. On a molecular level, that makes fusing a little easier, but rearranging yourself with someone else is still a challenge, no matter who you do it with. And it isn’t an experience that can necessarily be described.”
“But if there is no trust,” Ruby speaks up, albeit reluctant and a little self-conscious. “You’re just going to fall apart again. There needs to be an openness, an understanding between you.”
Nobody moves. A veritable sea of eyes blinks back at them. Are they expecting something more?
“Well?” Ruby demands, quickly becoming more authoritarian from her annoyance. “Are you going to try it out or just stare at us all day? Get dancing!” Still more silence and staring. Ruby lets out a noise of frustration. “Like this!”
Sapphire finds herself snagged by the waist and her hand pressing into her partner’s as their fingers intertwine.
She can’t help her teasing grin as they begin to rotate in a chaste, well-coordinated waltz. “Oh, is this how we dance now?”
Ruby scowls, still self-conscious. Her cheeks are a darker red than usual. “You are not helping.”
Sapphire laughs. “Relax, Ruby, everything is going to be fine.”
Her partner seems to have the presence of mind to know that Sapphire is also talking to herself. To be fair, though, she’s already checked for the most probable outcome.
They break apart when someone says, “But I don’t waltz when I dance on my own. Is that a problem?”
“You can’t force your dancing style,” Ruby replies, gesturing. “Fusion doesn’t work like that.”
“But what if our dance styles are totally different?”
“Then you either have to find a style that works as a middle ground, or you need to switch partners,” Sapphire says. “Shifting your style to allow someone to join you is very different from trying to impersonate a style that isn’t your own.”
A tanzanite speaks up, gesturing to her partner. “She does ballet, and I like grinding my hips; are we badly matched?”
“Ever tried tango?” asks Ruby after a moment of thought. “Tastefully sensual, that.”
The tanzanite and her dancing partner, an aquamarine, exchange a considering look. The aquamarine shrugs. “Sure, I like to tango.”
On the other side of the crowd, there is a flash of bright light followed by noises of surprise and admiration as a tall gem with four eyes and four arms straightens and examines herself for the first time. Awe and satisfaction emanate from her. “I look good!” she says gleefully. Then she stops cold. “Wha—that’s not my voice!” Two of her four hands cover her mouth. “Oh, it is now—this is amazing!” The fusion jumps, and seems to delight in all of the stares.
Ruby and Sapphire share an amused look, knowing all too well what their companions are feeling. They hop off the stage and the crowd parts easily to allow them to visit the fusion up close and personal.
“What’s your name?” asks Sapphire.
“Moonstone.” The fusion seems surprised by this implicit knowledge, how easily it falls from her mouth.
“So how did you do it?” says Ruby. “Do you remember what it felt like the instant before you came into being?”
“Well, at first it wasn’t working, but then we started letting go of the anxiety and started having fun and getting into it, and that’s when—” Moonstone lets out a small ‘oh’ of comprehension. “I get it now.”
Ruby crosses her muscular arms and nods in satisfaction. “There you go, a demonstration. Now, if you’ll excuse us…”
Without warning Sapphire is snatched up and tossed into the air. She shrieks, at first in surprise and then in giddy laughter as Ruby catches her. They twirl once, and they’re both smiling hard as their foreheads bump together and they are enveloped by white light.
Garnet, stoic as ever, puts on her glasses and nods at the troops in supportive acknowledgement. “Have fun practicing,” she says as she takes her leave.
There is a flash as Moonstone breaks apart. Her component parts—a zircon and a topaz, oddly enough—exchange looks with the rest of their peers in disbelief.
“They’re good,” Topaz breathes. “Well, I guess that’s no surprise, since they invented it and all.”
“She’s nothing like them,” says Zircon, still shocked. “I never would have guessed.”
Garnet doesn’t turn back, but she does smile to herself. Just a little. In all likelihood, she will never have to give a demonstration again.