Dark with Enlightened Intentions (Steven Universe

"..Huh?" Onyx widened her eyes at what Pyrite told her, more intrigued than anything. What could cause you to fake your death here, anyways? And for that matter, what did Pyrite get herself into to fake her death, anyways? Was that a joke?

..Well, best not to ask now. After all, it was time for her questions and/or concerns. She thought about everything before she thought of the first question-- the reason they came in here to apply, in fact.

"..So how much does this job pay, in all honesty? I'm fine with whatever amount we get, but I'm just curious." Onyx smiled, hands folded in her lap. With everything left on the table, she may as well ask how much they were getting paid. "Oh, right-- and are there any other working employees? How cooperative are they? Friendly?"
 
"Well, the job would start at minimum wage." Malka began, "And from there there... I think we can talk about any possible raises later on, when you've worked here for a bit."

Pyrite nodded, "Sounds fair." She wasn't too concerned with how much the job would pay, having done plenty of jobs for the lowest pay imaginable just to have something to do... other times, the 'job' paid for itself in the adventure it provided. Now, she didn't have too high of hopes for this particular one, but hey, it was... 'getting value', as Onyx put it. She just wanted to try and get something with what they got.

"Now, for the second question... There is one other employee." She said, "His name is Arsen. He usually helps me to run the register when I'm not there to... like now. Or, helps me with other duties... I guess you can call him co-runner?" She said, continuing, "Anyways he's..." She paused, trying to find the right words, "... Well... he can seem... untalkative." It was somewhat hard to describe Arsen, "But, really, I'm sure you two shouldn't have... too much of a problem working with each other. Just a bit of warming up, that's all." If Malka could manage to befriend him, and, well... be even more, then surely she could get them all to get along... or at least work together. Please.

"... Unless either of you have anymore comments, questions, concerns... I'd say we're done with the interview!" She said, smiling and standing up. She offered a hand to both of them, "Thank you for giving both of your time to me! I'll take into consideration what we went over, and see if either of you would be right for the job." Despite their quirks that Malka couldn't deny... she thought they both seemed like suitable applicants. ... Pyrite was a little more... concerning that Onyx, but, well, all towns did have their characters, after all. Malka didn't see any harm in at least giving both of them a chance... That, and, they had been the only ones to actually try and apply thus far. Why not give them a shot?

... Arsen might be a harder person to sell this too. But... it's not like she didn't interview them first!

Pyrite gave a strong handshake to Malka, her own hands overshadowing the human's, "An' ah'd have t'say a mighty thank you t' you, miss." Pyrite said, winking and giving finger guns, "Ah promise, me or Onyx won't disappoint if y'choose to have us on yer side!" She let go of Malka's hand-- she learned way back about how strong she could be, even if she wasn't... well, she was strong, to say the least.

Malka gave them both a pause if they wanted to say or do anything else, before she opened the back door, letting both of them out.

Pyrite turned to Onyx as they left the store, "... Y'see the way that green one was starin' at us? Like we up an decided t' shift an extra eye on us or somethin'!" Pyrite said, giving one last look to the green-haired human, "... Geez, humans are pretty particular, ain't they? Still don't know what we were gonna resume!"

"... Now," She said, watching them both leave before looking to Arsen, "I know what you're going to say--"

"That we hope you're not gonna hire the cowgal?" Alena said, leaning on the counter once the two applicants had left.

"Alena!" Malka frowned.

"Am I wrong?" Alena said, "Look, the one with the glasses looks kind of... ditzy. A bit of strange fashion sense. Whatever, you apparently need the help. But the cowgal? C'mon, Malka!" She put her hands on hips, "'Just whut exactly are we 'resumin'," she said, mocking Pyrite's accent, "You can't tell me that you actually see anything in her?"

"... Look." Malka said, "I've interviewed them both. Onyx seems to have some good people skills... a bit... quirky, but she'd be a good hand to have on the register. Now, for Pyrite," Malka said, putting emphasis on it in case Alena chose to refer to her by her impromptu nickname again, "... She'd be a good person to have if we get robbed-"

"Which has happened when?" Alena said, crossing her arms.

"Or for the rowdy customer who doesn't accept a polite 'You need to leave'... or, a certain abbreviation that you like to use." Malka said, "Arsen, I know you can attest to dealing with a certain person who I believe you had to actually shove out-- It'd be easier on all of us if we had some sort of security, I think."
 
Onyx blinked as she looked back at the store, walking away from it once the entire interview was said and done. "Yeah.. But when we finally get to work-- whenever that is-- at least they'll recognize our talents! This'll get us some value for sure, won't it?" Onyx smiled, skipping off to who-knows-where. "This way we'll be grounded here without much traveling, since we'll be 'making a living' and all.."

"Okay, yeah, we agreed on more security for the store. But you know what we didn't agree on?" A young man with slightly messy hair and a fairly short stature spoke up as Malka spoke his name while addressing the store's condition. His face looked completely and utterly disapproving of the idea Malka pitched to them, if not completely irritated, like this isn't the first time. "Hiring a goddamned country bumpkin for the job. Don't even get me started on the shorter chick. Are you feeling well, Malka? Because sometimes I don't know with you." Arsen grasped his face within his fingers, right before looking over at her sternly. "Say what you will about this store, but no matter what, we need to present ourselves as professionals. Those guys? Don't quite fit the criteria. When you take more than 3 seconds to open a fuckin' door, and it turns out that's because you're opening it the wrong way, you're looking in the wrong place. We've got no time to hire dumbasses!"

Arsen sighed, walking away from both Alena and Malka. "Okay, look. Seriously, I know we're busting our asses for new employees, but you really can't look a little harder, Malka? We're a convenience store, not a shitty charity case." He huffed, taking off his baggy coat and hanging it on a rack nearby as he turned his head to the both of them. "This is what happens when we leave you in charge of hiring new employees. If it weren't for us, you'd be recruiting people outta their trees. And then where would our customers go?" He walked away from the rack, then pointed over at the entrance. "Out the door. Not a word. Do you really think these two'll increase our business?"
 
"... Y'know, Arsen took a lot of the words out of my mouth." Alena admitted, "You can't just hire the first people that come through the goddamn door-- and, like Arsen said, especially when they take awhile to open said door. I gave them some benefit of the doubt and thought maybe they're just really dense tourists. Still not crossing out that possibility."

While still frowning, she didn't seem too upset at their rather harsh words, "... Both of you are looking at this from a first-impression perspective."

"Like those don't count." Alena said, "If I walked into my job interview like... 'Pyrite' did," Alena said, begrudgingly using the name, as stupid as she thought it sounded-- who names their kid fucking Pyrite? Onyx sounded normal. Probably from hippy parents, but hey, not a half-bad name. But, Pyrite... Actually, explained a lot about her, really, "I think them laughing me out of the building would be them going easy on me."

"Except, they didn't walk into a high-stakes journalism interview with competition out the door, Alena." Malka said, "We're a convenience store in a small town-- not that I don't enjoy working here, but, I can see why they weren't as formal."

"Still doesn't excuse how they dressed-- Especially... fuck, I made my point already." Alena shook her head, figuring that repeating it wouldn't make any difference to Malka, "And they're the first people that walked in for the job-"

"In a week. It might be a case of there being better jobs around, or not having the right people around for it but... Well, it might be another until someone else comes along. That, and, neither of you interviewed them like I have." Malka said.

"For like, what? Twenty minutes? What's usually the first part of an interview?" Alena said.

"It was enough." Malka said, quickly following with, "Not because of them particularly. I would have done the same for anyone else that would have walked in here. The three questions I asked were enough for me to assess both of them with what their skills were and where they'd be best put. Onyx could be a very friendly face to put on the register-- I'd say maybe a few days of training and she's ready to go. And Pyrite? It's not just security. She's a very strong individual in general. She could help a lot with some of the heavier work... either of us would take some time with." Malka paused, "... That, and... quick assumptions didn't get me where I am with either of you-- Arsen, " Malka said in a softer tone of voice, "If I'd just shuffled you out... I don't think we'd even be where we are today. And Alena..."

Alena sighed, "... Yeah. I know, you don't have to tell me. I just... Well, we just don't want you to take your 'see the good in everyone' thing too far, y'know? I mean, shit, I know how patient you can be when a customer is screaming fuck all in your face." she said, "And what if it doesn't work out like you think it will?"

"Then we politely say that... they aren't a good fit for here. But I want to give them a chance, at least." Malka said, with a small smile.
 
Upon hearing Malka's feelings on the matter, Arsen huffed in frustration. It's true, she didn't seem to judge him when they first met, and even with his.. flaws, she still gave him a chance. It's not like her tendencies to assume the best of people was completely wrong, but it was just one of the worst ends of the spectrum of hiring people for jobs.. as well as most things. Still, he decided to just give her the benefit of the doubt anyways.

"...It's pointless arguing with you. Fine." He waved a hand at her. "But if they show that they really aren't fit for working here, their asses are getting the boot. No questions asked, and no fusses made." Arsen plopped himself on a chair behind the counter, grasping his face in one hand. "Swear to god, you find 'potential'-- quotes on potential-- in the oddest of places, Malka. You'd better be right about this, for your.. no, our sakes. Not everyone is as special as you view them. Not the 'good' kinda special, anyways." He scowled at the both of them.

"Alena might have been persuaded by you-- hell, I doubt she's fully convinced-- but I'm still gonna be on the fence 'till they show their stuff. That's how I've been raised to do things." He looks back at the store's entrance for a brief moment, still having that prominent frown on his face. "And that shit's not changing anytime soon."
 
"... This town don't seem too bad. Ah wouldn't mind stayin' here a bit, ah guess." Pyrite said, shrugging. She looked up, seeing that the sky was starting to fade into a sunset, "... It doesn't matter t' me how many times ah've seen this-- never gets old." she smiled, watching the colors of an orange and pink sky blending together to form the night. It was moments like these that made her think that... well, maybe whoever they were fighting against in that war had a point. She shook her head. That was thousands of years, and it was over... her smile faded as she was contemplating this, before she shook her head.

"Anyways... it's gettin' pretty late. We don't exactly need sleep-- but ah don' see any point in doin' anything else when it's so dark. 'Specially since we don't start our work until at least tomorrow. So," Pyrite went ahead and plopped herself on the ground, laying down to face away from the sunset, "ah'm gonna go ahead and try an' get some shut eye. Ya' can go ahead an' go off an' do your Earth-research thing-- just come an' find me at sunrise, alright?"
 
Onyx looked up at the sky alongside Pyrite as they stopped walking, watching the sky slowly darken whilst changing different colors. Her face went from curious to completely awed as the sunset commenced, letting out a noise of amazement. "It's so.. beautiful.." She smiled wide as she saw her first occurrence of a sunset, holding her hands to her chest. She was truly glad to have been picked for a scouting mission to Earth if this was what was waiting for her. Her mission, as time-consuming as it seems on the surface, was all worth it with events like this. She could watch it forever if she could stop time on one singular minute.. Until she got sick of it. But even then, knowing her, that's a long time!

Her attention to the sunset was cut when Pyrite told her what to do.. and then proceeded to lie down on the ground. What was.. she doing? "You're.. you're getting some shut eye?" Onyx asked, tilting her head. This had to be a joke. She couldn't just leave her here by herself! "Here? But.. That doesn't look too comfortable, Rite. Far from it, actually.."
 
"Might not look lahk it, but ah don't mind." Pyrite said, slightly muffled from where she was laying, "After some... years," she couldn't quite recall exactly how long it had been but... years was a good measurement of time, right? "Yah really get used t' just sleepin' on th' ground lahk this. A blanket might be nice, but otherwise, the ground isa' fine 'nough bed fer me. Sides, it ain't like we got anywhere t' stay."
 
Well, that didn't seem to improve Onyx's mood on Pyrite's current position. She put her hands on her sides, looking rather displeased. "That won't do! We can't just.. lie here and rest! I won't do it, and I won't let you do it, either!" She pouted, her face puffed out slightly in protest. "We need to do something else, like.." She thought about her options. Clearly, asking around for a place to stay won't work, since they'll obviously ask for value, and they haven't even started work yet to get that.. So, the next idea came into play.

"..Finding some place comfortable to rest! We can just look around, and if no one's using a particular space, then its ours for the time being!" She snapped, smiling at her idea-- sometimes she can be so clever. But then again, that was just common sense talking. "But first, you gotta.." She walked over to her partner's side, swiftly grabbing an arm with two hands. "Get.. up!" She grunted as she swiftly stood back up and heaved to pull Pyrite up with her..

..And blinked to see that she was standing along with her. That didn't take too long. "..Oh, you decided to stand up by yourself? You liked my idea that much..? Aw.." She smiled, appreciating the kindness of her partner. However, what Onyx didn't know was that Pyrite was actually pulled right up with her, and her standing up had nothing to do with it-- Onyx simply thought she was way heavier than she appeared.
 
Pyrite, stubborn as she was, didn't plan on getting up anytime soon, "Then go ahead an' do that-" she was swiftly surprised by a force that seemed to make her get up from her position, and it was too unexpected to make her resist. Looking at Onyx, it didn't take her long to realize that Onyx was, indeed, this 'force', "... Uh..." She rubbed the back of her neck, "... Sure. Ah just thought that was... such a rivitin' idea ya' had there it just went an'... jolted me awake." she looked away awkwardly for a moment, "Yep." She couldn't tell Onyx the truth with a face like that... and she was a little embarrassed that Onyx had been able to pull her up like that. Just what kind of Homeworld gems were they making now'a days?

"... Anyways, if we're gonna go ahead and find us a place that we can call our own... we gotta know what kinda' place we want... Lahk you said," Pyrite said, "some place no feller is callin' their own. ... Think we might as well get t' walkin' an' lookin'?"
 
Onyx smiled, nodding. "Yeah! We might be able to find a place no one's taking and then just set up residence there. Simple!" She made the plan sound so easy it was almost believable. However, thanks to her innocence, she'd learn soon that it wasn't as simple as she made it out to be.

Suddenly, she started walking, pulling Pyrite along with her by the hand.. As if pulling her up from the ground wasn't startling (and embarrassing) enough. "We'll need a place that's spacious enough, but secluded enough for us to hide if we run into trouble at all.." Her face went slightly serious, especially after how cheerful she was before. "..That's something we can't afford to deal with at this time, what with us still settling on this planet."
 
"... Yeah." Pyrite said, thinking the plan to be a bit... Well, it was certainly optimistic to think there's any good place that wasn't already inhabited by someone-- why'd she think she was just laying on the ground like that? A lot easier said than done.

Before Pyrite knew it, she felt herself being pulled by Onyx with the same forced used to pull her up. Pyrite still went with it, her own, embarrassed pride unwilling to make her admit it wasn't of her own volition, "... Y'do have a point." Pyrite admitted, "But there's always th' option of just skippin' town altogether, y'know-- t'ain't like there's many that'd miss us here."

Their footsteps went from crunching gravel to the clunks of stepping on wooden planks. Seagulls sounded off in the distance, "... So just what're y'thinkin' of findin' at th' docks, exactly." she asked, looking at the wide body of water that reflected the moon. ... It wasn't that bad of a sight, though. Wasn't one that she saw very often, far more used to false promises of water that wide deserts would give.
 
Onyx looked around carefully, seeing rather pleasant sights off in the distance besides the water and the advancing night sky as she pulled Pyrite along, looking for a place they could stay, or at least a place with enough materials to make a home for them. "..Nah. I've just started getting used to it." Onyx looked up at Pyrite and flashed a smile. "I wanna at least come back to it as easily as we can leave it, you know?"

Her attention shifted to the seagulls squawking and flying off into the horizon before slowly letting her fingers go of Pyrite. "..Well, no one said hiding underwater is a bad idea, right?" Onyx grinned even more, which would lead Pyrite to be even more confused and much more afraid of what she had in mind. "Let's remember what I said: spacious enough, as well as secluded enough for us to hide. Doesn't underwater sound like a good description of that?"
 
Pyrite shrugged, "T'ain't like there's more towns just lahk it." she said, before dropping the subject. ... They'd come to that bridge if they had to cross it. And maybe avoid burning it if they could.

... Pyrite just stared at Onyx. She'd ask if this was a joke, but... she had a feeling that she was being serious here, "... Y'got some points there, Onyx. Ah'll give ya' that. Y'got some points-- 'Cept, there's one thing yer' missin' here. Ah dunno, maybe they do some'sorta' weird underwater trainin' on Homeworld now, but ah ain't used t' bein underwater. What kinda' gem lives underwater? None ah've ever heard'of. Ah mean, we can do it, don't need th' air lahk most things do, but would we really want t'?"
 
"Exactly! We can do it, so why not give it a chance? And besides, you said it yourself-- we could be the first gems to ever live underwater!" Onyx smiled at Pyrite, showing that she was, indeed, serious about this. Gems had more capabilities than humans, that much is true-- including underwater capabilities as well. It was just begging to be used. "And on Earth, too! And like you said, again, we don't need air! Why wouldn't we try it out?" She smiled, walking across the dock before taking a dive into the water, as if to prove a point to Pyrite.

..Not too long later, however, the gem would slowly walk back onshore just on the side of the dock, water slowly cascading off of her as she turned over to face Pyrite. Which showed an octopus latched on tight to her face. When she spoke up, her muffled voice was dull, the complete opposite of how she sounded moments ago, and sounded like something along the lines of, "So that's why we wouldn't try it out."

~

After the octopus was pulled off of her face (leaving a bunch of suction hickeys all over it), Onyx dragged Pyrite along to the next planned spot with a sour look on her face. Making it to the more forested part of the area, Onyx spotted a bunch of trees, then flashed another smile at Pyrite, signaling that she had another idea for a place they could rest. Once again, Onyx would run up to a particular tree and climb up there, as another example to show Pyrite that they could stay there. Soon, she found herself a few feet from the ground, sitting atop two branches, with her point proven.

..Or so she thought, until she began to hear the quiet, and then increasingly loud noises of splitting wood. Attempting to act quickly, she frantically shifted around reflexively, though it seemed that this only served to make the branches snap even quicker, until they broke off from the trees with a resounding snap, and Onyx plummeted from her spot with a scream. Fortunately, Pyrite was there, caught off guard by her shout, and managed to catch her with both hands just as she neared the ground, managing to save her in a close call.. But then one of the branches fell straight onto Pyrite's head, sending her into a daze and causing her to fall over, and by extension, Onyx to be dropped abruptly with a squeak.

~

After taking a pass at a howling wolf as it neared midnight (which Onyx found incredibly amazing, as usual), Onyx decided to take Pyrite to the very edge of town. Surprisingly, the area, as well other parts seemed to be as lively as it was in daytime. Once they arrived, there seemed to be a small fair of some kind, with house model contest taking place. There were a ton of exhibits, but some of the more impressive ones were at least tent sized-- a hay house, a wood house, and a brick house-- all made from very similar contents, of course. Once the contestants went and left, Onyx took it upon herself to lead Pyrite closer to them, while being very discreet about her next moves. Inspecting the houses, Onyx had yet another ingenious idea.

Looking at Pyrite, she would give her a thumbs-up, then shapeshift into a wolf (and then whisper a howl for good measure), sneaking right into the brick model house. Peeking out of the door, she'd give Pyrite a wink. For now, they'd finally found a place to stay.

..And that's when a disquieting rumble arrived. Before she could ask if Pyrite had heard it, she felt a raindrop splash onto her snout, with Pyrite immediately catching some in her palm. It took hardly any time at all for it to start pouring, along with some strong winds that started to whip up. Pyrite quickly tried to go for one of the other houses-- the hay house, naturally, but then suddenly the winds blew it and the wood house down (who makes houses out of wooden sticks and hay, anyways?). Pyrite just awkwardly stood there in the position she took as she was attempting to enter the house, and humorously with a stick of hay getting stuck at the side of her mouth. Onyx couldn't help but laugh, but then her house tipped over backwards once the winds changed direction. The three contestants returned soon after, two of them mourning the loss of their hard work while the other tried propping their home up.. then he spotted Onyx, who would smile awkwardly (along with a nervous howl that had a questioning inflection to it, "Awoo..?"), and just when all three started to get angry, Pyrite quickly nabbed Onyx by the scruff of her 'fur' and hauled their load outta there before they began chasing them, as the night storm slowly petered out.

~

Finally, Onyx led Pyrite into a rather quiet cave, rather tired from the previous two treks to find a place of repose, and it seemed like Onyx was beginning to lose optimism and hope, though was holding on to what was left with what little ideas she had as she first noticed the cave. She had to convince her taller partner, who had outright refused until Onyx mentioned it was the only piece of shelter they could find that wouldn't break or fall apart. Once that was cleared up, Onyx and Pyrite entered the cave, and it seemed like Onyx was back to being cheerful again. Moments later, they would find their respective places to sleep, with Onyx eventually moving up a little closer to Pyrite. Pyrite would then freak out and then complain about Pyrite allegedly nibbling her arm, to which Onyx would say she was doing no such thing after waking up.

Onyx would then pull out her weapon-- a slingshot-- from her eye gem, then pull the band backwards to let the light that was the ammunition slowly glow..

..And then she'd see a bat biting at Pyrite.

Onyx immediately squawked in shock and shot the blast at the bat, causing it to screech in alarm. It was then, after hearing more than just one screech, that Onyx realized they weren't alone in this cave. Without hesitation, they both hopped onto their feet and ran out of the dark cave filled with the nocturnal mammals, screaming as they followed them out of there and practically shooed them out as they leaped away from the entrance, looking up as they flew off into the distance.

~

Later, an hour or two after midnight, Onyx and Pyrite found themselves in the grasslands again, with Onyx losing her previous energy from before and now dragging her feet forward as she walked as opposed to picking them up in her usual enthusiastic manner. Eventually, she'd fall to the ground below, tired of walking after making it quite a long way. "That's.. That's it." She huffed, looking forward with fatigue. "I can't go on anymore.. I can't find ourselves a place to stay. I can't even be asked to find a single needle if it was in a stack of hay.. In fact, I.. I think I wouldn't even have any luck finding one in a hay house.." Onyx sighed, struggling to look over at Pyrite with an exhausted, disappointed face. "I'm so sorry, Pyrite.. I really thought.. Maybe I could make our resting arrangements more comfortable.. But I guess not.."
 
Pyrite almost admitted that Onyx had a point there. ... Until she came back on shore with the octopus on her face, "No kiddin'." Pyrite said, crossing her arms. She soon helped with pulling the octopus off of Onyx's face, almost plunking both of them in the water with the force it took. ... And she soon found Onyx dragging her again with the same amount of force. By now, she just went with it.

Just like with the water, Pyrite did find some interest with the forest, unused to seeing trees as tall as these. She whistled, looking up at them. Soon enough she saw what Onyx's plan was when she went up one of them-- They'd live up in the trees, apparently. ... Well, it was better than the ocean, at least. But soon enough she heard cracking noises, and the branches snapped off. Pyrite, while startled, instinctively caught Onyx in her arms, "... How's about we find somewhere more-" she didn't get to finish her sentence before the branches followed after, making Pyrite fall over and take Onyx with her.

So, where next? "What? Y'think we'll just stumble upon a house or somethin'?" She said as they passed by a howling wolf, a sight that she wasn't as fazed by.

... Speak of the devil. They did stumble upon houses-- pretty spacious too, at least in Pyrite's opinion anyways. ... Just what was Onyx thinking of now? Onyx shape-shifted into a wolf, going into the house and peeking out of the door. ... Maybe they could stay here, everything looked pretty set up-- She felt some rain in the palm of her hand. There was rumbling in the distance. She felt herself getting soaked by it (so much for 'the ocean would just make them wet' argument). Realizing what would happen with the winds, she moved as fast as she could to the other houses... but speed was never her specialty, and the houses she went for quickly toppled before she even touched them. She stood awkwardly, catching a piece of hay in her mouth. ... Well, if it happened now, it would of happened later.

Pyrite laughed at Onyx when 'her' house ended up toppling on her too. ... But then the contestants returned, and... they weren't too happy about their house, "Now, before ya' go an' assume--" She didn't have much time to explain before they went right to blaming Onyx, and Pyrite decided right then and there it'd be better to turn tail and quickly grabbed Onyx by her... erm, 'fur'.

"Maybe ya'll should be question'n why yer havin' a house buildin' contest at this time'a night anyways!" She yelled as she quickly got her and Onyx out of there, "... Just what was yer plan when y' turned into a wolf anyways? ... Actually, don't answer."

By now Onyx was definitely dragging her. At one point Pyrite dug her heels into the dirt like a pony that refused to go... only to realize from the trail they were making that Onyx managed to move her anyways. ... Might as well go willingly, then, if very reluctantly. That and, as Onyx pointed out, this was a place guaranteed not to fall apart on them... hopefully. At this point she almost dared the cave to fall apart on them.

... However, the cave didn't seem that bad. Spacious and she was sure there wasn't anyone else in here. She made herself comfortable... and then she felt the nibbling, "Ah dunno just what kinda' customs y' have on Homeworld, but here, we don't go an' nibble others in their sleep. Y'still got some wolf in ya'?" Pyrite looked accusingly at Onyx until she insisted that she wasn't the one doing the nibbling. ... Pyrite pulled out her revolver, looking around, "What?!" She said, looking around her, "Where-" She soon noticed it was right on her, nibbling away, and she shot off her gun until she shook the creature off of her.

"... Onyx, ah don't think-" there were more screeches in the background. She quickly got to her feet and quickly high-tailed it out of there before she looked up at all the bats swarming, "... That we're alone." she looked at Onyx, just about done with these shenanigans of hers.

Finally, they were back where they started in the grasslands. Pyrite plopped herself down, a sour look on her face. She opened her mouth to interrupt what she assumed to be another one of Onyx's ideas... until she heard what actually came out. Her look slowly transitioned into a frown, when she realized that while... out there, Onyx did put a lot of effort towards trying to find them a place to stay, "... Wait here." She said, getting up and disappearing from the grasslands, and came back a few moments later with what appeared to be several branches.

"Y'know what me an' the boys did back when we roamed th' wild west, an' we couldn't find a place t' stay? Not even one inn room we could all share?" she dumped them on the ground, propping them up in a triangle shape, "We went an' made our own camp. Nothin' too special, but ah still remember what one of 'um told me t' do with some tree branches..." She tied up the ends of the smaller branches. When she was done, it looked to be in a small tent shape-- at least enough room for both of them together, "It's.... nothin' special." she admitted, "But its a place we can sleep until we find somewhere more stable."
 
Onyx looked up as Pyrite told her to wait, leaving her lying on the ground for a while, until she looked up, seeing Pyrite walking back upside-down with the ground now inexplicably becoming the ceiling-- oh. Onyx turned right-side up, now seeing Pyrite walking towards her right-side up with a couple of branches in her arms. Listening to her little story, her eyes would widen, her mouth would gape open, and then soon enough, form into a smile.

"A little camping site! Of course; why didn't I just think of that?" Onyx looked at the makeshift tent, and then gave Pyrite a thumbs-up and a wink. "Good effort! Where would we be without your ideas, Rite? Probably forced to sleep with those pesky flying creatures back at that cave!"
 
Pyrite blushed a bit, showing a bronze-ish tint on her cheeks from Onyx's compliment, "Aw, don' go an' try an' butter me up now. Half of yer ideas weren't that bad if it weren't fer certain... circumstances that happened." Pyrite stretched, and with a yawn said, "Now... let's try an' get some shut eye before we go and see if we got hired." she crawled into the tent, making room for herself... and she realized there was really only room for herself. Oh.

She crawled out, hands on her hips as she looked at the tent, "Now, of course ah woulda' had t' go an' make th' darned thing too small... Well," she said, laying on the ground, "You go ahead an' have th' tent Onyx. Ah'm fine with th' plain ol' ground. Been my bed fer a number of years anyways."
 
Onyx watched happily as Pyrite got herself comfy in the tent, nothing but glad that she decided to become partners with her. "Are you kidding? Half of my ideas had major problems riding with them! For example, how exactly was I going to accomodate your resting spot in a tree? Worst case scenario, you'd end up getting stuck, or you'd end up like me and the branches.. break under your.." Onyx slowed down her speech as she watched that Pyrite's size made it so that she was the only one that could sleep in there. "..Weight?"

As Pyrite suggested Onyx take the tent while she slept on the ground.. Well, Onyx wasn't going to take that sitting down. The same exact face she made back when she suggested that they take individual job interviews showed up again-- complete and utterly offended. "What? No way!" She pouted, looking up at the gem with pure protest in her eyes, looking like she would just about childishly stamp her foot any moment now. "Pyrite, you do realize I didn't drag you around the place choosing places to rest based on ideas I had, lousy as they were, for myself. I did it.." She would take at least a step forward, as if trying to get her point across literally as well as figuratively. "..For the both of us. Because we're partners, right? And I'll be darned if I sleep nice and comfy next to my partner, lying in the dirt. Regardless of if you're used to it or not. What kind of partner would I be? What kind do you take me for?"

She'd smile at her rather lengthy, and possibly needlessly motivational, speech, before pointing right at the tent itself. "So help me, you're gonna be sleeping in that tent with me if it means I have to rest on top of you for that to happen!"
 
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Pyrite sat up, looking a bit disgruntled at Onyx's protest, "Now, look--" she began, only to be interrupted by Onyx. She crossed her arms. ... She couldn't help but smile lopsidedly when she heard what she said next. About them being 'partners' and that's why she dragged Pyrite everywhere, "... Well, when ya' say it like that--" she stopped at Onyx's... accidental innuendo, "... Yeah. Alright, alright. Ya' convinced me when ya' reminded me that we were partners, alright? Just thought ah might be kinda' har--" she stopped herself, clearing her thought, "... uncomfortable t' sleep on, that's on."

Pyrite crawled into the tent again, getting herself adjusted, "Alright, just crawl on in here an'... make yerself comfortable, ah guess." she took a deep sigh. It'd... been quite the day, alright. From wandering as she usually did to meeting this gem... and now this. ... But it wasn't bad. It was nice to have some companionship. A friend. ... Pyrite smiled to herself. A partner.